A Very Old Story
by Not-a-fanatic-just-a-fan
Summary: History is repeating itself. They just don't know it yet. The heart remembers what the mind forgets. Even in the next life. Multi-chapter fic. HitsuKarin but will probably have some other pairings as I go along. Rated T because I don't know exactly how deep I will go. Just being safe.
1. Prologue: At an Unspecified Time

I don't know how often I will update. I'm in college and have homework but I this is a great stress reliever. Which is ironic considering that most of the stress I get is because of all the papers I have to write. I have a general plotline in mind but let's just see what happens. If you have any ideas or desires (situations or things you want to happen) feel free to let me know. I'll make sure I credit you if I use them. The more help I get, the faster I go.

 **Disclaimer** : I will totally create something and then write fanfiction for it just so I don't have to disclaim it. It will be hilarious.

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 **Prologue: At an Unspecified Time**

"Karin! NO!" The cry cracked through the burning air. It was beyond heartbroken. A high, grating, and delighted laugh responded to the cry.

"Just like before ' _Heavenly Guardian'_! You couldn't save her then and you can't save her now! Centuries mean nothing if you don't learn from them!" The laugh was practically ecstatic. "She was your weakness. _Is_ your weakness! And you're the bigger fool for it!"

Histugaya watched helpless as the dagger sliced through the air, targeting the milky-white neck of his heart and soul.

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Dramatic teaser. I wrote this and the first three chapters in one sitting. Be proud. The word count was insane.


	2. Chapter One: The Situation

A little fun and set up. Again, ideas and plot bunnies are appreciated. I will credit you if I use them.

 **Disclaimer** : Ichigo is overrated. Hitsugaya would be the main character if this was mine.

* * *

 **Chapter One: The Situation**

"Karin."

The 19-year-old looked up from the soccer ball she was currently dribbling, brushing a few strands that had escaped the ponytail, from her face. She caught sight of practically fluorescent white hair and startling blue-green eyes and grinned.

"Toushirou! Long time no see!" She kicked the ball over to the short (never say that out loud) boy, who gracefully caught it without even looking. She ran up to him her face flushed from her physical exercise and something else that she would never address, even in her mind. "What are you doing here? Did you get time off?" She tried hard not to sound hopeful.

He nodded in reply to her greeting, his face softening in his own personal version of a smile (which some would say was just him not frowning so deeply and most would say was the same expression he always wore with no change whatsoever.) "I'm on a routine check-up. Soul Society still wants to send only taichos and fukutaichos here. For obvious reasons." He gave a small smirk. Most would be put off by the fierce expression that framed the smirk but Karin knew that his expression was not intentional.

"Cool." She bobbed her head. "So… you have time for a game?" She grinned, snatching the ball away with her foot, taking a few steps back.

He huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance (or at least, anyone but Karin would say was annoyance). "I just told you I was here for work."

"I'm pretty sure I hear the word 'routine check-up'." She bounced the ball on her knee in what she hoped was enticingly. "Meaning, you don't really have any work. Especially with a substitute-shinigami like Ichi-nii living here. He takes care of most everything anyway." She started to bounce the ball back and forth on both knees.

"He's kind of the reason we have these check-ups to begin with." He grumbled but Karin could feel his icy professionalism quickly melting.

She had her own smirk on her lips as she watched him unfold his arms and let his posture relax almost two whole degrees. For him that was the equivalent of lounging on his back in the grass.

"Come on. First to five wins. Just you against me. It's been a while since I've totally dominated you on the field. You and your paperwork."

He raised his eyebrow. "You never 'dominate'."

She allowed the ball to drop to the grass, snorting. "Oh please. The only thing you've got going is your freaky dead guy skills. Without those, I would totally win."

"'Dead guy skills'?" he asked dryly, walking onto the field.

She grinned again. Victory was sweet. She shrugged with fake nonchalance. "Yeah. Dead guy skills. The weird ability to walk on air and teleport."

He darted forward and snatched the ball from Karin, quickly dribbling it away before turning to look at her, his foot resting on it, one eyebrow raised in almost a teasing way. "It's called controlling your reiatsu. But considering your family I understand that that's a foreign concept." He flashed her a smirk before quickly heading off to the goal.

She raced after him, feeling lighter than she had in weeks. Since his last visit if she was being specific. Which she wasn't.

* * *

The soccer pair walked companionably along the path on the side of the hill, Karin talking about nothing in particular and Toushirou listening, adding in sardonic and dry remarks every now and then that caused her to laugh. The abused soccer ball was in its netting, slung over her shoulder. He had offered to carry it for her but she was kind of possessive about the ball. They reached the apex of the hill and hopped over the railing, Toushirou casually leaning against, Karin balancing carefully swinging her legs slightly to stay on. The soccer ball sat on the grass between them.

They watched the sunset in its brilliant and vibrant array of reds, yellows, and oranges in comfortable silence. It was a tradition they had inadvertently developed.

She broke the silence first. "How long are you staying this time?" She hated to ask but she knew she needed to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable. He always left. No matter how much she pleaded and begged him in her mind and heart. He had his duties. His life. And she was simply someone he visited occasionally in the human world, like grandma Haru or even Ichigo.

He was silent for a moment longer before he answered. "Not long. A few days at most. Probably just the weekend, realistically." His deep voice was soft as he surveyed the picturesque scene in front of them. "Like you said before, it's just a routine check-up. No real work to do, especially with your brother here." She had never disliked her brother more than at this moment.

The sun was nearing the end of its performance, the shadows elongating and darkening, the sky replacing the brilliant hues for a deeper purple and blue. A few stars could be seen above them.

She didn't reply. There wasn't anything to say. His leaving was inevitable. As inevitable as the sun setting. No matter how much you willed it, it would continue its course, eventually disappearing entirely, leaving nothing but cold darkness and empty hearts in its wake.

At last, the final ray of sun sunk below the horizon, it's glow quickly fading with it. They stayed for a few minutes more, watching the stars twinkly into existence now that the main competitor was gone.

Karin sighed and hopped off the rail, the night chill causing goosebumps along her bare arms as she reached down and picked up her soccer ball. She hopped over the rail, back on the path, before turning back to Toushirou who hadn't moved.

He was staring up at the stars. Karin couldn't see his expression from her angle but his voice had a strange tone to it when he spoke.

"You know, there are always more stars than you realize. You forget about them when the sun is in the way. But in actuality, they are always there. The sun is just closer. Temporarily. But it always leaves. The stars don't. They stay."

Karin was confused. She glanced up at the stars. She always liked the stars. There were so many, each unique, twinkling merrily. They gave off a surprising amount of light. Nothing compared to the sun, but enough. She continued to stargaze while Toushirou spoke again.

"I think people need to appreciate the stars more. The sun is nice but it's not forever. It can't be. The stars are always there. Just waiting for their chance to shine. Waiting to be noticed."

Karin looked back at Toushirou. He was no longer looking at the stars. Instead he was looking down at his own feet, a strange sadness seemed to emanate from him. Finally, he turned to look at Karin, his eyes shining in the starlight. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

She blinked. "Not even a little bit." She pulled a face as he looked annoyed at her response. "You're being weird Toushirou. What's wrong?"

He shook his head and climbed over the railing to join her, leading the way down the path to her house. He always walked her home. She always tried to not read anything in it.

After a brief pause, she jumped after him, catching up and walking next to him. "I know what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong Karin."

She brushed him off. "It's okay Toushirou. I get it." She said seriously. He paused, turning his head to look at her.

"You do?" He asked uncertainly, feeling strangely suspicious of her serious expression as she nodded solemnly.

"Yes." She said, her tone even. She looked him straight in the eye and he could see a teasing gleam in them. "It's that time of the month for you, isn't?"

His expression dropped into a deadpan stare. She kept up her own serious expression for only a few seconds longer before busting up laughing.

He snorted and continued down the path, he hands jammed in his pockets. She kept pace with him easily, snickering slightly. She slung her arm over his shoulder good-naturedly, pointedly ignoring the weird anti-heat he always gave off that caused more goose-bumps that had nothing to do with the actual temperature.

"It's okay Toushirou. I understand. Truly." She teased. "Yuzu also gets weird and emotional during that time. She can't help it."

He glared at her but didn't bother to remove her arm. She could see the ever so slight smile at her teasing when they passed under a light. She grinned to herself.

She had wanted to get him out of his weird mood and she had succeeded. She had an uncomfortable feeling that she knew exactly what Toushirou had been saying about the stars. And she didn't like it.

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I love my OTP. They are adorable. Review please. Criticism is appreciated.


	3. Chapter Two: Musings - Her

Some internal monologue. He said.

 **Disclaimer** : I wouldn't call it Bleach. Seriously. Why? 'Strawberry' would make more sense.

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 **Chapter Two: Musings –** _ **Her**_

It was much later by the time Hitsugaya entered the apartment. Soul Society bought a permanent apartment in Karakura simply because the sheer frequency of Shinigami's visit necessitated it. It was rare that it wasn't occupied any given week.

The lights were on and Matsumoto, his 'trusty' fukutaicho was lounging on the couch, an open sake bottle in front of her. She was sipping modestly from a cup.

"Taicho!" She grinned happily at the sight of her captain. "How was your day? See any action?" She grinned, making sure that he caught the double meaning.

He ignored her for the most part as he crossed the living room and headed to his claimed room. "It was fine and no. I'm going to bed Matsumoto. Don't get too drunk. I trust you to be sober should anything happen during the night."

"Hai!" She waved cheerily as she continued to drink her sake. "Night~!"

He shut the door firmly, locking it quickly. Once she had gotten extremely drunk and wandered into his room, nearly suffocating him when she decided that he made an excellent mattress in her drunken haze. He made sure to always keep the door locked after that night.

He stood in his barebones room, nothing personal since it was really just a few days before they headed back. He hadn't even bothered to unpack his bag, which really only contained some spare clothes and paperwork. He had thrown it on the bed and left to find Karin as soon as they had arrived, leaving Matsumoto to take care of any of the hollows that might appear.

Strangely enough, lately Matsumoto took their trips to the human world more seriously. Normally he would have to fight tooth and nail to get her to not shop and actually work. But the last few times, she had actually done her duty, taking care of any hollows and reporting to him of her rounds. She still shopped and drank and visited friends but she always made sure she did the work first. Hitsugaya was glad. Less he had to stress about. He just thought it was strange. She acted like her normal, lazy self whenever they returned to Soul Society.

He made his way to the window, raising the blinds so he could once again look at the stars that peppered the sky.

He knew what he had to do. He was a captain. A Shinigami. She was human. Technically so much younger than him that it would have been considered illegal and just plain wrong in the human world. It could never work. There were always stories about those that defied the laws that kept Shinigami from getting into relationships with humans. It never ended well for them. The human couldn't live in Soul Society. Not for very long anyway. And the Shinigami would have to give up their whole world in order to stay. And why? Gigai's were enough to fool humans and meet most quick inspections but they couldn't reproduce. Even if they could, the chance of a Soul having offspring was something around less than a hundredth of a percent. The couple could never have a family. And even if by some miracle they survived Soul Society, the many hollows that would be attracted to them, and who knows what other obstacles life threw at them, the human would die. And the soul would be left.

Hitsugaya remembered one story in particular where the couple did in fact survive long enough that the human had died of old age. The soul had snuck back into Soul Society (where, if they were caught, they would have been executed immediately) and spent the next three decades wandering the regions of Rukongai, looking for their dead spouse. Well, he had found her. She had remarried a Rukongai native, no memory of her past spouse or her life before.

Hitsugaya didn't know if the stories were true or if they were just made up as a warning to deter Shinigami from pursuing forbidden relationships with humans. Even if they weren't true, there was enough logic in them to be considered. He had originally convinced himself that Karin's case was unique since she was the sister of the substitute-Shinigami, but eventually he had to admit to himself that it really didn't change anything.

He sighed, closing the blinds and plopping heavily on the bed, still in his full outfit. He stared up at the ceiling, the fan spinning fast enough to look as if it wasn't just a single circular ring around the light which he hadn't bothered to turn on.

He let his mind wander, and it went were it always did, to a certain dark-haired teen with a quick grin and a quicker temper. She wasn't technically a teen by human standards but since her age still had the word 'teen' in it, Hitsugaya considered it essentially the same thing.

She had matured overnight, at least, that's what it felt like to him. He had not visited her for quite a while due to the war, then rebuilding efforts, then just work in general. When he finally went back, he was shocked at her transformation. And devastated that it had involved a growth spurt that made her taller than him. He had sulked for months after but eventually he had his own mini-growth spurts. He was still shorter than her but only be about an inch or so now.

Her other 'growth spurts' had changed the dynamics of their whole relationship. Before, they were friends. They just seemed to click, to get each other on a level that neither understood or cared to investigate. Sometimes they wouldn't even have to say anything. After the transformation as he called it, things were… different.

On the surface level, things were the same. But underneath… now there _was_ an underneath. Things that were once innocent were avoided for fear of a tell-tale blush or awkward pause. Hitsugaya experienced the pain and rage of jealousy. And the stupidity of it. He knew that they were just looking and would never approach or do anything, but they were _looking_. At _Karin_. _His_ Karin.

She always reprimanded him for being so mean to her soccer friends but she was just oblivious. She thought that they still saw her as one of them. A guy. He would never say it out loud but even a blind man wouldn't be able to think of her as a guy. She had… grown. More than Yuzu. Quite a bit more.

Her style had not changed too dramatically but it definitely didn't hide her femininity. She was still sporty and athletic in her clothing but something about the clothes she picked or maybe the way she wore them was decidedly… girly. Attractive. In a mostly modest way.

Sometimes she seemed to forget that she was a girl herself. She seemed to have an aversion to shorts longer than mid-thigh at best and he couldn't recall the last time she had worn pants. And sometimes her shirts were just a little… tight.

He didn't think she really understood what she was doing, to him and the rest of the male population. But mainly him. Because he wouldn't allow anyone else near her. It's like she had no clue just how gorgeous her legs were. And that it was downright dangerous to leave them constantly exposed like that. She could seriously injure some poor sap who was too busy looking at her legs and walked right into traffic. Not that he had ever. …she had stopped him before any cars had hit him anyway.

And her hair. He was positive that it had something personal against him. Some kind of vendetta. It was always teasing him. Up in a ponytail, exposing her slender neck, tickling her face the way he wanted to. Down in cascading waves that seemed to absorb the light around it, telling you that any attempt to touch would suck you in and never let you back out.

Her eyes were either her best feature or her worst. Hitsugaya never could decide. They told everything. And nothing. They were fire. They were ice. They screamed at him. They whispered dangerous secrets. Things that couldn't be spoken in the light of day. They laughed and cried and begged and teased and yelled and everything else. They were bottomless pits that Hitsugaya was constantly falling into.

Her voice. Her laugh. Her hands. Her hips. Her wicked back slice kick that won her many a goal. Her temper. Her determination. Her independence. Her expressions. Her strange infatuation with gummy bears. Her lips…

That was a dangerous topic that he abruptly stopped himself from delving into. Again. He was having to do that a lot lately.

He groaned and rolled over, burying his face in pillow. Her. Something about her just kept him coming back. He couldn't even begin to count the times he had convinced himself that he would simply not go back to the human world. And then suddenly find himself exactly there. There were countless arguments about exactly why thinking about some random human girl was stupid and pointless and wrong and illegal and there was no real reason he should be thinking about her in the first place. But it didn't stop his traitorous brain from shoving memory after memory of their times together, however brief or seemingly inconsequential those moments were. They were priceless to him.

This wasn't helping.

He got out of bed and exited his gigai, leaving it on the floor. He swiftly opened the window and jumped out, shunpoing to the roof. He definitely wasn't getting any sleep tonight. Just like last night when he had been too excited to sleep. Or too busy reprimanding himself for being so excited. Or all those other nights where he found himself thinking about her instead of sleeping. Which happened too often to be healthy.

He decided to go on patrol. He had neglected his duties all day. Might as will make himself useful if he wasn't going to sleep anyway.

He shunpoed from rooftop to rooftop, no real destination. He was just making general rounds, on the lookout for souls or hollows. He stopped suddenly.

Of _course_ his subconscious had brought him here. He needed to have a long conversation with his subconscious. Again.

Most of the lights were on, the family still active even with the late night. He knew exactly which room was hers. He had visited enough times but beyond that, he just _knew_. There were a lot of things about her that he could never explain.

He saw a shadow move across her window as she crossed her room. He was such a stalker. He frowned at himself and quickly left before he lost the ability to do so.

He missed the twitch of curtains from the very window that he had been looking at, revealing those same eyes that he had been lamenting over just minutes before.

* * *

Balcony scene this is not. Kind of angsty when I think about it. Ah, unrequited love. Motivating millions of plot bunnies worldwide.


	4. Chapter Three: Musings - Him

Yeah, some more monologue. And some more… things. ;) Read on.

 **Disclaimer** : All my OTP's would be cannon.

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Musings –** _ **Him**_

Karin looked out at the darkness of her street, the familiar building and cars comforting even in the darkness. There was no one there. For a minute she had thought that Toushirou had been near but the street was empty. She let the blinds snap shut. She always seemed to know when he was near. She couldn't say that she recognized or even really felt his reiatsu. She had no training and at best she could tell a friendly apart from an enemy but the subtle nuances were lost on her and cursed Kurosaki genes.

She was probably just imagining he was near. She thought about him often enough that it was possible. She thought about him too much. It was unhealthy. When she was walking around town, she often found herself in places they had visited together or that reminded her of him or places that she didn't know but could have sworn she tasted some faint lingering ice crystals in the air from some battle fought long ago. Stupid subconscious. She was constantly reprimanding it.

She went back to her desk to put away her toiletries that she had abandoned to look for Toushirou outside. She didn't know why she bothered to get ready for bed. She knew, with him in town, she wouldn't be sleeping. She never slept when he was in town. She would lie awake, thinking of him, waiting to feel the spike in reiatsu that would signal a distant battle, remembering things they had done together, worrying if he would be make through another night, thinking about the various expressions she had been able to pull from him that day, wishing that he wasn't currently fighting selflessly for some nameless, faceless whole that wouldn't even remember his sacrifice on their behalf, her heart swelling all the more for his selflessness, wishing that he was with her…

She thought about him more than just when he was in town. Quite frankly, there wasn't any time when she _wasn't_ thinking about him in some aspect or another. She thought about his sour expression that only she could really read the subtleties of. His firm, strong hands, the size of which hinted that his full height was yet to come. His weird love for old people candy. His temper. His surprising gentleness. His vein that throbbed every time someone other than her called him anything other than 'taicho'. His expressions. His toned body. His ever so subtle version of a laugh. His too-deep-to-be-normal voice.

His eyes were probably her favorite feature. She would say his lips but she couldn't admit that to anyone, not even herself. His eyes were safer. Or maybe not. The distinct turquoise color that just couldn't be natural but reminded her of the ocean, the sky, forests, parks, and just about anything in between depending on his mood. She was pretty sure that they were the most accurate mood ring ever crafted. And the most beautiful. It was probably wrong to call a guy beautiful but when it came to his eyes, there really was no other word. She tried (and failed. Miserably.) to not stare at them too often.

They weren't the only distinct feature about him. They weren't even the first thing people saw. Besides his height, the most distinctive feature was probably his hair. She loved his hair. It was gravity defying and white. Not just, I'm-old-and-my-hair-lost-it's-pigmentation but a whiteness that seemed to be an actual color all by itself. She found any excuse possible to touch it, which was less than she wanted to. She was surprised the first time she touched it and found that he did not use any kind of gel or something to make it stick up like it did. It was surprisingly soft for something that looked so sharp. The color on someone so (supposedly) young caused many a person to assume he was some kind of gangster or delinquent.

The whiteness was always in contrast with his clothes. He seemed to like black. Perhaps it reminded him of his Shinigami outfit. And it was always so… professional. Or classy. Or just stylish. She wasn't sure. He didn't where childish t-shirts with anime characters or sayings. Most of his shirts were black. He had a polo that was black with white inside lining. He wore it the most, Karin guessed because it was like the casual version of his uniform. And he pulled it off _well_. He pulled off anything he wore well. You could probably stick him in hobo rags and it still look good. He made anything he wore look good. And his clothes repaid him by making him look even better, if that was possible.

Because he did look good. When he was in his Gigai in public, he stopped traffic. Middle-aged women with three kids still looked when he walked past. Honestly, his face was more dangerous than his sword. The girls in Karin's school always declared it a national holiday when he visited Karin during school. Even guys had to admit his looks were impressive. She constantly had to warn away girls who tried to get too close. Not that he realized it. The jealousy was a little silly since a) they weren't dating and b) he never noticed them. One girl had practically been undressing in front of him and he had simply commented that she would get sick if she wasn't careful.

She wondered if perhaps he just hadn't hit puberty and didn't notice girls at all. This thought was quickly discarded. If he hadn't hit puberty, it was purely mental because his body certainly had. When he had come back after the war, Karin had been speechless at the amount of growth that had taken place. Each surpassing year just left him more and more like a fully grown man. Let her restate that. A fully grown _man_. Karin had maybe an inch on him but she didn't doubt that be next year he would surpass her and continue to climb up. And slightly out. His muscles definitely grew with him.

It was weird to think that he was going through some kind of soul puberty. He looked roughly her age, the hard-to-place age of a teen/young adult. Somewhere between 14 and 27. She knew in actuality he was a very old man. He never specified just how old but she had a feeling that she undershot it every time she guessed. He had explained that, to a certain degree, Soul Society's perception of age was that it wasn't really important since they all lived for so ridiculously long in an almost immortal state, not really aging.

He had once said that some scientist Shinigami had compared the aging of Shinigami and humans and concluded that they didn't age the same at all. Instead of a steady aging, they grew in spurts. Like every couple hundred years or so they had a growth spurt and suddenly they looked older. She figured Toushirou was going through one right now.

Yuzu had come in during her musings and turned out the light, softly bidding her good-night before falling asleep quickly. Karin hadn't really noticed. It had been around the same time she had been contemplating his eyes. Karin turned on her side, looking through the slats of her blinds to the night sky above, with the stars steadily twinkling against the dark sky.

She did know what Toushirou had meant when he had rambled on about the stars and sun. He had been trying to convince Karin to not get so close to him. He was constantly making those kind of comments. Even if he acted as if he wanted to get as close as she did.

She knew about the rules that Soul Society had with relationships between Shinigami and humans. She had once asked Rukia about it when teasing her for not acting on feelings for her idiotic brother. Rukia had explained the strictness of the rules and how strongly the were discouraged from even making friends with humans. She had been really sad when she explained it. She had tried to hide her sorrow but Karin could tell. Karin could tell because she saw the same expression on her own face when she had looked in the mirror that night.

Logically, she realized that it could never work. The age difference was a clue of the obvious. He _had_ lived longer than she ever _would_ live. It was doomed by the very nature of it.

But that didn't stop her heart from yearning. Her stupid oyaji had once said 'the heart wants what the heart wants.' She still thought he was stupid but she understood him now. Now she thought her own heart was stupid. Stupid heart falling for the one person that she could never have.

They lived in different worlds. Literally. Impossible didn't even begin to cover it. Even if he liked her back (which a secret, deeply buried part of her brain might possibly but maybe not completely but actually potentially might think was true. Not that she would ever admit it. Ever.) they couldn't ever be together. She couldn't live in Soul Society till she died and she wouldn't remember anyone when she passed over. He couldn't live here. He would have to give up everything and he didn't really belong. He would be a literal dead man walking.

Plus, the Gotei 13 needed him. He never bragged, never really talked about his role within the Gotei 13 other than to reprimand someone for not using his title. But she knew. She heard about all he did from others. He was the first person to suspect Gin and discover the truth (even if Aizen defeated him). He was the one that was in charge of the human world reinforcements before the war started.

That was when they first met, she thought fondly. Back when she thought he was her age. She smiled remembering his anger when she patted his head and called him and elementary school kid.

Matsumoto had been the one who told her about his actions during the Winter War. How he single-handedly defeated the third strongest in Aizen's mock Gotei 13. She never could remember what they were called. Even her brother had had trouble fighting the sixth strongest. You know, before he went and totally dominated Aizen and everything.

And everything that had happened during the Thousand-year War. She wasn't sure why it was called that because it certainly did not last a thousand years. Whatever. The point was he was special. He was powerful. And he himself admitted that he wasn't fully matured and therefore his powers were also not fully matured. She had no doubt that he had the potential to be stronger than Ichi-nii.

She looked at her clock next to her bed. The glowing green numbers revealed that she had been thinking about Toushirou for hours and it was now almost two in the morning. She wasn't even that tired.

He did that to her. He made her heart simultaneously beat faster and falter in its track. He was a breath fresh air yet left her breathless. Kami, if Yuzu hear her thoughts now she would never live it down.

Deciding to give up on trying to sleep since it was obviously impossible, she got out of bed and carefully opened the window, making sure to not disturb Yuzu who was no doubt dreaming about flowers and weddings and other appropriately girly things.

Not that spending hours thinking about a _guy_ was all the girly she thought sarcastically to herself.

She maneuvered herself out the window, clinging to the small hand and footholds that she had discovered after a decade of doing this same maneuver. Within a minute, she was settled on her roof, drawing her knees into her chest, trying to ward off the night chill. Her pajamas were just a tank top and shorts. Not smart for spending a night on the roof.

She gazed sightlessly at the stars for a while, unaware of time passing. She was broken out of reverie by the arrival of the very problem.

Toushirou was in his Shinigami uniform, his sword (a Zanpakutou he constantly reminded her) strapped to his back with a green sash that she knew had once been a scarf he wore. He used to have to wear it behind his back because it was as tall as he was but now it was just habit. He was used to reaching behind his back.

The temperature on the roof dipped slightly causing Karin to shiver. He unslung his Zanpakutou, placing it between them before slipping his captains haori off and giving it to her wordlessly. I had no sleeves (personal preference he claimed but Rangiku said that when they had tailored the first one, the sleeves had been too long and embarrassed about his size he had cut them off and claimed from then on that he was too hot with so many layers. Again, now it was just habit.)

He settled himself next to her, leaning back on his hands. They sat in silence for many more minutes, Karin deciding that she wasn't going to think about everything too hard and just enjoy his warmth and smell enveloping her in the form of his haori and his presence next to her.

"You're up pretty late." He spoke in a subdued voice, the hush people took unconsciously when it was late and the world was asleep.

"So are you." She responded.

He shrugged. "Just doing rounds. Hollows usually come out at night. No one really knows why. Popular theory is because their home world is in a perpetual night."

"It is? No sun ever?"

"Yeah."

The atmosphere deepened, the previous conversation about the sun on both of their minds.

Suddenly furious, Karin scowled and spoke, her voice gaining volume and force.

"That's horrible. Everyone needs the sun. It's essential. People can't live without it. Things can't grow without it. Better to have it for a short time than no time at all!"

Her intensity surprised even her but she was over it. She hated it. She hated the whole stupid situation. She hated that Toushirou always had to leave. She hated that they pretended that they didn't have feelings for each other. She hated that all she thought about, every day all day, was him. She hated that she didn't hate him. She hated that she couldn't hate him. She hated that she loved him too much, so much that it hurt, like a piercing ache that constantly gouged out her heart till there was nothing left but a giant, painful, bleeding hole in the middle of her chest that nothing could fill except him.

Toushirou didn't respond to her outburst. She calmed down and felt embarrassed, feeling her cheeks flush. She glanced at him, trying to gauge his expression. She was surprised to see that he looked sad. His shoulders were hunched over and his knees had also been drawn up, his arms folded over them, half his face hidden behind his arms.

But his eyes. She had compared them to mood rings earlier and right now the color was a blueish, the kind that reminded her of rain and puddles on cement. She felt the sorrow roll off him in waves.

"Is it?"

His voice was muffled behind his arms and soft. She almost missed what he said entirely.

She frowned, pondering his question. She knew what he meant. Is it worth it to have the sun, knowing that it would have to leave, than to simply never have it.

She shifted so she was kneeling, facing him, his Zanpakutou barely brushing her knees, some king of unspoken line that couldn't be crossed. It was now or never. What did she have to lose?

Everything.

She took a deep breath and made sure she had his full attention, his eyes locked on hers.

"Yes. It is. The world is a better place for the sun. Even when it's gone, its effects are still there. It changes the world. For the better."

He gazed into her eyes, his face expressionless. She started to feel nervous. Did he not understand her? Were they taking this whole metaphor thing too far? Was she too vague? Maybe she was completely wrong. Maybe he didn't have feelings for her. Maybe when he was talking about the sun, he really was just talking about the sun. Had she misinterpr-

Her mental panic was abruptly cut off. If fact, pretty much any function, mental or physical was cut off. There was a simple reason, really. Nothing major.

Toushirou was kissing her.

She had never kissed anyone. No one had ever kissed her. Hard to have that happen when you've been in love with one person since you where 11.

After a few seconds of complete unresponsiveness, he started to pull back. Her eyes widened as though came back to her. And air. And her heart restarted.

He was bright red and looked a mix between embarrassed and mortified (and maybe a hint of rebellious in his eyes).

"Sorry." He muttered leaning back, looking anywhere but at her. "Sorry. I thought-"

It was his turn to be cut off as now her lips were on his. She had no experience with this and wasn't sure exactly what to do. She vaguely remembered Yuzu reading to her about kissing techniques from some teen magazine a year or so ago. At the time, Karin had purposefully tried to ignore it since she couldn't help but blush at the thought of kissing Toushirou and hadn't wanted it to be too obvious to Yuzu. Yuzu probably already knew. She knew everything.

Now, Karin cursed her past self. She couldn't remember a single thing and so wasn't sure if she was doing it right. She stopped wondering and worrying when Toushirou responded.

She was pretty sure she died.

He was pretty sure he died.

He kissed Karin. And now she was kissing back. And he was kissing her back even more. And he died. He was already dead but now he was _dead_ dead. Nothing else existed. Just her and her beautiful, sensual, full, moist, lovely lips. Those lips that he stared at way more than was decent. The ones that he refused to think about because he knew just how dangerous it was.

Screw danger. Screw rules and what could and couldn't be. Screw the whole Soul Society. What Soul Society? What laws? There was nothing but Karin.

Karin who felt just as wonderful, _more_ wonderful, than he could possibly have imagined. Karin, his Karin. The one that he had been in love with for who know how long. Who cares? What mattered was right here and now when the world exploded around them and neither of them gave a single care.

When they parted after a few seconds (or hours or years. Who knew?) both were flushed and slightly breathless. The invisible line that his Zanpakutou made completely obliterated.

They realized that their hands had moved while they were kissing. Neither was conscious of this act. Toushirou's were lightly resting on her waist, holding her or him steady or trying to pull her closer or maybe trying to hold her back. Her own were around his neck, one was resting in his hair on the back of his head. Just as soft as she remembered.

They simply stared at each other, neither sure what to do. After another eternity, the pulled completely apart, Karin handing him back his haori, which he put on and strapped his Zanpakutou back on. After a hesitant heartbeat, he stepped closer and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck again to keep herself steady.

With a soft swoosh of sound, Toushirou landed on her open windowsill and after Karin oriented herself, gently lowered her down on her mattress. Karin was grateful for the lift. She didn't trust her limbs to make it down from the roof unaided. As it was they sort of hung limply at her side as she kneeled on the bed, facing her Shinigami, his crouching form silhouetted by the glow of the lights on the street. He looked ethereal.

Their breaths mingled as his lips ghosted across hers once more before he whispered softly.

"Good-night Karin."

He pulled away but she quickly responded, a jolt of panic coursing through her.

"Good-night Toushirou."

And then he was gone.

She stared at the empty windowsill. She had felt panicked because she had a feeling that this was more than just a simple good-night and that it was paramount that she tell him before he left. Like she would never get the opportunity to again.

As she crawled under her covers she surprisingly wasn't thinking about anything. Her mind was apparently still broken and had yet to restart.

The tingle on her lips was enough as she closed her eyes and drifted off into bliss, dreamless, because her dreams had just come true.

* * *

Whoo-hooo! I was waiting for that kiss for forever! It will pick up more now. At least, it should. Criticism please! (in the form of reviews)


	5. Chapter Four: Sunset

The turn. Almost 3,000 words.

 **Disclaimer** : disclaimed

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Sunset**

Soul Society was bustling with its normal activity, Shinigami practicing in dojos, running between offices and squads with stacks of paperwork, or casually patrolling streets. Some were simply visiting friends, not doing anything in particular. In the tenth squad, the squad members were making themselves busy.

Tenth squad members were decidedly proud of their squad. Perhaps because of their very young taicho, or their very feminine fukutaicho, but they worked twice as hard as any squad to make sure that they were not underestimated. Or to catch the attention/approval of their very good-looking taicho, and very beautiful fukutaicho.

Their taicho was, at that moment, in his office doing his share of paperwork. The amount was downright wrong. When he was shorter, he had to worry about the stacks that were taller than him. He thought that he had grown sufficiently but sometimes the stacks were still taller than him.

He was mindlessly skimming through another sheet, allowing his mind to wander. It didn't wander far. It seemed to be stuck in a particular moment of time, almost a month ago. It was a moment that changed everything.

He could still feel her lips on his…

He jerked out of his revere, realizing that he had been staring absently at the same sheet of paper for almost five minutes now. He groaned and quickly signed the paper, fixing some of the minor errors. He was doing that a lot lately. It wasn't too bad, just when he was doing paperwork.

Or in meetings. Or had nothing to do. Or was meditating. Once, he caught himself when he was in the middle of a practice fight with some of his officers. He got a nasty bruise on his shoulder because of it.

Yeah, he had a problem.

The rest of his squad had realized something was off about their taicho. More than one squad member had caught him standing in the middle of a hallway, gazing off into space. Some of the braver ones had suggested a trip to the fourth squad.

Toushirou sighed and set down his pen, clasping his hands together and propping his elbows up on his desk. He needed to think.

He knew he couldn't go back. He proved to himself that he couldn't be trusted with her. He couldn't stop himself, keep their relationship in the safe friendzone. It just couldn't work. Both of them liked each other too much.

He couldn't speak for her (though he certainly hoped), but for him, he couldn't deny that he was hopelessly in love with her. Everything he knew, every _one_ he knew (if he would ever tell them, which he wouldn't. _Ever_.) said that it was wrong and pointless and illegal and couldn't work and stupid and- and-

But he couldn't stop it. He didn't care. He just wanted her. Badly. She felt like an essential part of him, like he hadn't been living until he met her.

The door slid open with a bang as his overly hyper fukutaicho bounced in the office with a loud "Taicho~!", her 'girls' bouncing with her. "Guess what!"

She had a happy glow about her, holding a paper in her hand.

Hitsugaya glared at her. "You decided to actually do your paperwork." He said with a monotone.

She smiled happily and completely ignored his response.

"We got another assignment to the human world, taicho! There was some high hollow count that they want us to investigate! When do we leave?"

She set the paper in front of him. It was a standard mission to the human world sheet. Actually, there was quite a stack of papers that needed to be filled out before trips were authorized but this kind of paperwork was Matsumoto's forte. The sheet she handed him was just the list of people that would be going and the taicho's signature.

She had already put both their names on the list. They were the ones that usually went. The only ones now that he thought about it.

He glanced at Matsumoto. She was grinning and practically bouncing in excitement. "You get another chance to be with… all your friends, taicho! You always look so relaxed when you go. It will be good for you!" She smiled encouragingly.

He felt his insides drop unpleasantly.

She knew. He knew she knew. Everything about her actions suddenly made sense. She was silently encouraging him. Had been from the very beginning, before he even realized the full extent of his feelings.

He knew what he had to do. He had to be a taicho of the Gotei 13.

He quickly crossed out his name and wrote the name of his 3rd seat officer. He signed his name at the bottom before he could second-guess himself.

"Take Ichinose instead. He needs the experience and I need to get work done."

He handed the sheet back to her. Or tried to.

She stood in stunned silence, no longer smiling or bouncing, her jaw hanging slack in shock.

"But- aren't you- the human world- your… friends." She stammered out, mechanically taking the paper.

"I saw my… friends last time I was there. There is no need for me to go personally. Ichinose needs the experience and you two are more than capable of taking care of business there. I don't need to go." He tried to emphasize the last sentence.

"But-"

"No Matsumoto." He interrupted harshly, fixing her with a glare. She jerked in shock. He calmed down and said softly, "I shouldn't go back. Not for a while. I-" He shook his head. "No Matsumoto." He repeated. "I belong here. I need to be here."

She was silent. He didn't look up, staring pointedly at a piece of paper in front of him, not really seeing it. After a long pause, she said in a subdued voice, "Yes, taicho." She quickly left, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

At the subtle noise, he felt his resolve collapse. His shoulders slumped forward. He hung his head in hands, propping himself up on the desk. His Zanpakutou, Hyourinmaru, growled in his head, in a strangely comforting way but he could tell that Hyourinmaru was not happy about his decision.

Hyourinmaru was a physical manifestation of his inner soul. And his soul wanted its other half. It wanted Karin.

"That's why." He whispered, to his Zanpakutou or to himself he wasn't sure. "I need to distance myself. I forget who I am when I'm with her. It's not right."

Neither were convinced.

* * *

Three days later, Matsumoto and Ichinose were both in the human world. And Hitsugaya was still at his desk, going through page after page of paperwork numbly.

It felt wrong. He felt like he was in the wrong place. Like he didn't belong here. He had spent the better part of the last three days trying to convince himself that what he was doing was right, when he wasn't thinking about her.

He was failing. Miserably.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. An hour. A day. Who knew?

He was bringing his pen down to sign another form when he jerked, losing his grip on his writing utensil. It clattered noisily on his desk, causing ink spots on the form but he didn't notice.

He was staring wide-eyed into nothing, his whole body tense. His arm was still raised slightly as if he were still holding his pen.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong. His whole body was tingling, Hyourinmaru was roaring in his head. He knew his inner world was a snowstorm.

Suddenly he was up and striding towards the door, throwing it open with a bang, causing a few officers who were passing by to jump.

They both straightened when they saw him.

"Taicho!" The saluted. He ignored them and concentrated. He couldn't feel any intense reiatsu, other than the normal. No warning bells. No one seemed to be in any immediate danger.

He looked at the two officers. One was his 6th seat, another his 14th. He turned to his 6th seat.

"Have we received any word from Matsumoto and Ichinose? What's the status of their mission?"

He was startled but tried to recover. "Er, no sir. They've only been gone a day or so."

"Go see if you can contact them and get a report. Quickly!" He barked at the stunned officer, causing him to jump into action. With a woosh he had flash stepped away. Hitsugaya turned to the other officer.

"I need a copy of the mission stats on my desk as soon as possible. What the original findings were that sent them to the human world."

She gave a swift bow and with a shout of affirmation, she too had shunpoed away.

He stood in the hallway, thinking hard. What was going on?

Within a few minutes, they both appeared back in front of him, one with paperwork, the other with a worried expression on his face.

"Sir." He focused on his 6th seat. "They lost contact with them an hour ago. I tried to contact them myself but there is no response. No distress signal has been sent either."

He wasted no time in snatching the papers from his other officer's hands unceremoniously. He flipped through them quickly, skimming for information.

On the surface, it seemed completely standard. Slightly more readings of hollow activity than usual. Send a quick recon squad of a couple of officers just to check it out. But he saw that the readings themselves were strange. Before the increase, there was an entire day with absolutely no readings whatsoever. For someplace else, that might be brushed off, but Hitsugaya knew that Karakura was not normal. And he had been through too much to not realize the signs.

The readings were bait. See who would be sent. Weaker hollows knew to stay away when stronger ones were present.

He shoved (or threw) the paper back at the officer with a swear before shunpoing away himself. He quickly sent word, demanding the gate to be opened to let him through with an emergency status.

Thankfully, there was no other taicho present near the gate to question his orders. He arrived at the gates, the gatekeepers looking confused at his haste but saying nothing. They opened the gate and before it was fully open, he was through.

He was standing above Karakura. It was nearing night, the sky starting to alight with the flames of the sunset.

He gave a cursory sweep of the town, looking for anything out of the ordinary, any sign of a battle. There was nothing. He might have thought that he was wrong, if he wasn't so positive that he wasn't.

He searched for Matsumoto's reiatsu signature and felt a moment of panic when he couldn't find it. Then he searched for Karin's. He could always feel Karin's, no matter what part of town he was in. She was better at suppressing her reiatsu than her brother but she wasn't trained by any stretch of the imagination. It was always leaking out.

And he couldn't find it.

Pure panic took over. He couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. Terror coursed through his body. Hyourinmaru was roaring and thrashing about.

He forced himself to breathe. Maybe he had just missed it. Maybe she was hidden behind a barrier. Maybe she wasn't-

He couldn't think about that. He would find his officers and demand an explanation.

Then he felt a strong reiatsu. It spiked up suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. Without thinking, he shot across the sky, heading towards it.

He landing in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. It was not a natural clearing. Trees and dirt had been blasted away, leaving a crater surrounded by fallen timber and mounds of earth.

On the other side of the clearing, there was a figure in a long cloak. It was taller than he was, a long Zanpakutou peeking out of his robe.

Hitsugaya quickly drew his sword. The flare of reiatsu had definitely been just to draw him out.

"Who are you?" He shouted angrily at him. He didn't even know why he was so angry. Something about the figure just made his blood boil. Hyourinmaru seemed to feel the same, poised and ready to strike, practically straining at Hitsugaya's hand. His growl was deep and threatening. Hitsugaya might have been surprised at Hyourinmaru's intensity if he wasn't feeling it himself.

He couldn't see through the shadow of the hood covering his head but he could swear he saw a grin.

There was a flash of light reflected from his sword as he slowly raised it. Acting on instinct, Toushirou jumped forward. Their swords clashed together and shock wave rippled out from the point of connection.

Hitsugaya had a moment of pause. This felt familiar. Familiar on an instinctive level. Like he had crossed swords with this figure before. He couldn't think about it long before they jumped apart.

"Who are you?" Hitsugaya demanded again.

"Taicho!"

It was Matsumoto, climbing over a fallen log. She was disheveled and bleeding profusely from her side. She had one hand on her own Zanpakutou and the other on her side, trying to staunch some of the blood flow.

Before he could stop the figure, he disappeared with a small puff of dust. Toushirou wanted to go after the figure. Hyourinmaru was practically yelling at him to go after the figure. He probably would have chased him had Matsumoto not gave a grunt of pain as she tried to make her way over to him.

Concern for his fukutaicho cleared his mind and he quickly re-strapped Hyourinmaru to his back and hurried over to Matsumoto. He helped her lay down carefully on her good side and quickly formed healing kido over her wound. He had learned long ago the importance to know emergency healing kido.

"What happened? Where's Ichinose?" And Karin, though he kept that quiet.

"There was an attack. That person you fought with. We arrived and tried to apprehend him but he started to run. I went after him and fought. He is very powerful taicho. He didn't even release his Zanpakutou." She groaned softly as her wound gave a flare of pain.

"He said he was waiting. We were the wrong ones. He didn't care about us." Her anger was evident in her tone.

Confident that her wound was not life-threatening and no longer actively bleeding, he sat back on his heels, the end of Hyourinmaru preventing him from leaning completely back.

"I was just about to call for back up when you arrived. How did-"

"Where's Ichinose?" He repeated his earlier question. Her expression turned sad and a little guilty though she tried to hide it.

"He's fine. He's… not wounded."

She was obviously hiding something from him

"Matsumoto."

She winced at his firm tone. Her eyes darted off to the side. He turned and focused in that direction. He could feel the faint traces of Ichinose's reiatsu. He stood and shunpoed towards it, ignoring Matsumoto's call to stop.

He knew. But he refused to think about what it was that he knew. He couldn't feel his heart. He didn't know if it had stopped or not. He didn't care. Hyourinmaru was silent, holding his breath.

There was another gap in the trees. Not as big as the last but natural, just a small break. Ichinose was couching down. He jerked up and turned, startled by Hitsugaya's sudden appearance. Toushirou didn't even look at him.

He was looking at the body that he had been crouching over.

The world stopped. He heard nothing. Felt nothing. Smelled nothing. It was like the world had simply ceased to exist. There was nothing.

It was Karin.

He wasn't aware of moving but we found himself kneeling over her body. She was splayed on the soft grass of the forest, her hair down and fanned out like a halo of coal. She was in her soccer clothes, the same ones she had been wearing the last time he was here. The last time he saw her. One hand was level with her head, like she had been reaching out when she fell. Her other hand was resting on her stomach.

Her stomach was red. It was covered in blood. Her blood. All over. Everywhere. He felt like he was drowning in it.

Her face was peaceful. She might have been sleeping, enjoying the feel of the sun's quickly disappearing rays. Her eyes were closed. He would never see them again.

He would never see her again. Never hear her teasing voice, her deep-bellied laugh, her angry shouts. He would never feel her hands in his hair, never count the bruises she caused during their soccer games. Never feel her lips ever again.

He was wrong. He had thought that he was the sun and she the world. He thought that he was the one that always had to leave. But he was wrong. She was the sun, shining on his world, leaving her mark everywhere, changing him from the inside out.

And she was gone. As gone as the sun that finally disappeared behind some hidden horizon. Leaving the world, leaving him, in an endless night.

* * *

This left me in a depressed mood. I need ice cream. Or reviews. Reviews make me happy.

Classes are over for the day and I have none tomorrow then a full weekend so I will probably get quite a bit of writing done.


	6. Chapter Five: The Duel

The aftermath of the previous chapter. How is Toushirou handling it?

 **Disclaimer** : Hitsugaya is totally BA and needs more winning battles in the anime.

* * *

 **Chapter Five: The Duel**

"Hitsugaya-taicho, here are the reports from the last human world run preformed. Everything was normal. No suspicious behavior on any front. The substitute Shinigami has been taking care of everything in a satisfactory way. There have been no major problems in close to five years now."

Ichinose, the third seat of the tenth squad saluted as he handed over the report to his captain who was sitting at his desk.

"Dismissed." The captain muttered, taking the reports, not even looking up. His third seat wilted slightly at his brusque manner but quickly straightened. He saluted again before leaving, sliding the door quietly closed.

There was silence for minute in the office, the only sound the soft rustle of papers moving and the scratching of a pen on the various forms.

Matsumoto, who had watched the entire exchange quietly from her desk, frowned. This was going on too long.

She walked over to his desk and stood over him, her hands on her hips. He didn't look up at her either. In fact, he didn't acknowledge her at all.

She huffed sharply. "Taicho!" She said loudly.

A non-committal grunt was the only response she got.

Determined, she continued. "Taicho, as your fukutaicho and as you friend, I need to speak frankly to you." He continued to write. Her frown deepened.

"Taicho, ever since… that day, you have been completely cut off from everything. I have tried to be mindful of your feelings but taicho," She drew a deep breth. "It's been five years. It's time to get over it. It's not healthy. It's affecting the squad as well. I never thought this but you truly are living up to you nickname as the ice captain. You don't talk to anyone, you never hang out with the other captains, even less than you used to. You've become an unfeeling machine. You just do paperwork, day after day. You don't go on missions anymore. You need to move on."

Her tone had softened at the end as she gazed sorrowfully. "It's been five years Taicho. Don't you think it's time?"

At her question, the tenth squad captain set down the pen purposefully before looking up at his vice-captain. Matsumoto had to force herself to not flinch at his gaze. His piercing turquoise eyes, which many said were like ice but which Matsumoto had always compared more to the ocean, were colder and harder than ice. They were dead. Absolutely no life behind them, not even a flicker. It was like looking at the eyes of a corpse.

He opened his mouth and Matsumoto expected either a reprimand or a murmur of agreement or something. Instead she got:

"Take these over to the eighth squad. It needs a signature before going to the first. Then finish filing these. They're already signed." He handed her a stack of completed paperwork which she took stunned. Then he looked down, picked up his pen, and continued with writing as if there was no interruption.

Anger coursed through Matsumoto. She slammed the stack of papers she had just gotten on his desk over the paper he was currently reading.

"No!" She shouted angrily. "You will not ignore me anymore! I have tried everything I possibly can! No more miss nice guy! You haven't left your desk in five years except to go home at night! When was the last time you made rounds around the barracks? When was the last time you joined the troops at the mess hall? When was the last time you were even in the dojo?!"

She was breathing heavily now, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

There was a moment of silence. His head was still bowed toward the desk.

"…And send in someone to make a run to the third squad on your way out."

The following shout was heard throughout most of the tenth squad barracks.

"HITSUGAYA-TAICHO, I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!"

* * *

The news of the duel between the tenth squad captain and vice-captain spread throughout all of Soul Society by the end of the day. A real duel between a captain and anyone else hadn't been fought in decades. Many had never seen one. Sparring matches didn't count.

A duel was very different. The old rules still applied. Meaning that one could kill another and not have any punishment for it. At least, not technically.

"What is the meaning of this, Hitsugaya-taicho?" the captain-commander Kyouraku said in his lazy drawl. He was in his stupidly large office at the first squad, his vice-captain Ise standing with perfect posture near his desk.

Hitsugaya was standing in front of the desk, his height seemed to fold in itself even though it looked like he was standing upright.

"My vice-captain was insistent on a duel. I was unable to convince her otherwise." His voice was completely monotone, as if he didn't care one way or another. Which, honestly, he didn't.

Kyouraku tilted his head sideways, as though he needed to examine Histugaya from a different angle. It was Ise who spoke up next, her indignant voice echoing in the large room.

"To accept a duel with your abilities as a captain against anyone of a lower position is fool-hardy at best! The gap between your abilities is enough that you should know better than to accept-"

"Nanao." Kyouraku cut her off with an amused smirk at her indignant outburst. She quieted instantly but both captains could tell she was still fuming in her silence. He turned back to the tenth captain, who had not so much as blinked at the lecture.

"She is correct. You are much more powerful than Matsumoto-fukutaicho. Even if she was insistent, you should not have accepted the duel. You should have known better." He gave a small sad frown.

Hitsugaya gazed blankly at his captain-commander. Kyouraku wondered if he really saw anything. He seemed to walk around in a stupor most of the time.

The silence dragged on for a minute longer as the one-eyed man continued to gaze at the youngest captain. Finally, he spoke.

"Very well." Ise gaped at him in shock.

"You can't approve of this!" She said, her eyes wide.

"I can't not approve of it, Nanao-chan. It has already been accepted. It would be the greatest dishonor to pull out of a duel, once accepted. There is nothing I _can_ do. Hitsugaya-taicho," He addressed the stoic captain. "Be very careful. You are dismissed."

Histugaya gave a short bow before turning with a swish of his haori and exited the grand office.

"Kyouraku-taicho." Ise said in a subdued voice. "This is not good. I know why she called for a duel but to think he would actually accept it…" Her voice trailed off.

"It will be good, I think." Kyouraku said in thoughtfully.

"What part of this will be 'good'?"

He stood up and walked over to one of the open walls that overlooked most of Soul Society. He gazed out at the view, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Matsumoto is undoubtedly trying to remind her captain of his humanity. But I think his troops need to be reminded that just because he is young, does not mean he is not a captain."

"But-"

"There is no time limit to grieving. There are times when I think that Byakuya is still grieving as well, and it's been decades since she passed. It will be a good reminder to everyone that even though he might be heartbroken and grieving, he is still a captain. He can still do his job. Better than most, I might add." He added with a self-deprecating grin.

Ise-fukutaicho pondered her captain's words for a while before nodding. "Very well. It's taking place tomorrow, I believe. At the southeast courtyard."

"We should go. I have a feeling it will be something to witness."

* * *

The morning was crisp, either from the cool temperature or the excited tension in the air. The southeast courtyard was large, bigger than the average dojo size. It was completely surrounded by Shinigami from every squad. The roofs of the nearest buildings were covered by Shinigami trying to get a better view. It would start as soon as the duelers arrived. Many captains were also present, oddly spaced at the front of the ring, none of them standing anywhere near the other captains.

There was a slight murmur when the captain-commander himself arrived, standing at the north end of the courtyard, right at the front. Bets were taking place amongst the Shinigami, over which moves would be used, or how long it would last.

Most of the eleventh squad was present, their mammoth-sized captain standing at the front, a huge grin on his deranged face. His short, pink-haired vice-captain cheering on his shoulder even though it hadn't started yet.

The murmuring took on a higher and louder pitch as the south end of the crowd parted, revealing the tenth squad captain and vice-captain walking towards the middle of the courtyard. The tension raised several notches.

The took their places across from each other. The third seat walked up to them, standing facing both of them. He raised his voice.

"As moderator for an officer versus officer duel between members of the same squad, I, Ichinose Sasuke, third seat of the tenth squad of the Gotei 13 and highest ranking officer available to oversee this duel, I call this duel of Matsumoto Rangiku, vice-captain of the tenth squad of the Gotei 13 against Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the tenth squad of the Gotei 13, to be legal and in good faith and honorable. Rules are traditional. The winner will be determined by the last one standing, either by forfeit, injuries, or death. Matsumoto Rangiku, do you accept this duel against Hitsugaya Toushirou?"

The busty blonde lifted her chin. "I accept this duel of my own will." She said with a loud voice, her determination clear.

Ichinose nodded. He turned to Hitsugaya who had his usual blank expression.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou, do you accept this duel against Matsumoto Rangiku?"

"I accept this duel of my own will." He said tonelessly.

"Then I pronounce this duel valid and binding. May the Spirit King look down on both contestants favourably. Begin!"

The last word was shouted as he shunpoed into the crowd, which was smart because as soon as he had said the last word, Matsumoto whipped out her Zanpakutou and shouted, "Growl, Haineko!"

Her blade dissolved into ash, leaving her with just a hilt. She wasted no time in sending part of the cloud hurtling towards her captain who nimbly dodged out of the way.

She expected this and had a second cloud speed toward him before the first had even reached the spot where he had been. He dodged this one as well, his expression as calm and icy as a glacier, as if her was taking a walk, not dodging against deadly cutting ash that was chasing him.

Matsumoto frowned and shunpoed, landing close to him and slashing with her hilt. He once again dodged by jumping away.

Her frustration was voiced by Zaraki who growled from the edge to no one in particular, "Why does he keep running away. Just fight, already!"

With a wave of her hand, she sent a huge, wide wave of ash towards him, trying to force him to fight. He simply shunpoed away. She gasped as she felt his presence behind her. She jumped away, spinning around to face him. She didn't need to apparently as he didn't do anything. He still hadn't drawn his own Zanpakutou.

* * *

"Why has he fought back?" Ise asked Kyouraku quietly. He was watching the duel with sharp eyes.

"I think he's teaching a lesson."

"What lesson? He's not doing anything!" She waved her arm at the still dodging captain.

"Exactly." She just looked confused.

"I don't understand."

"He's not doing anything. And she is still losing. If he had been fighting back, she would have died at least 10 times already. All without a Shikai."

Ise was surprised at this revelation. Her brows furrowed as she examined the battle. Indeed, although Matsumoto was in Shikai and sending out moves that to anyone else would have been dangerous if not lethal, Hitsugaya was as calm as he was at the beginning, not even slightly out of breath, and not a single mark on him. As she watched, Matsumoto sent a circular shock wave of ash in all directions. Hitsugaya simply shunpoed behind her again.

Matsumoto jumped away again but Ise realized that if had been seriously trying to win the battle, he could have killed her right then. Without his Shikai.

"Is he making fun of her? By not taking this seriously?"

"Oh no, he's taking this very seriously. Which is why he's doing it this way. She didn't just challenge him to a duel." He explained. "She challenged his authority and credibility as a captain. He's showing everyone the obvious gap in power."

* * *

Matsumoto now stood a distance from her captain. "Neko Rinbu!" She shouted and ash that had been resting on the ground, hidden, rose up around Hitsugaya, swirling around at high speed, closing in on him. Before it crashed on top of him, he disappeared, reappearing behind her once more.

Thoroughly angry now as she jumped away, she pointed her hilt but didn't send any ash his way.

"Fight me!"

He gazed at her, unfazed. "No need."

She was shocked and hurt. The obvious smack down on her abilities stung, even more so since he had always acknowledged her abilities before, had praised her a few times.

She felt a sting behind her eyeballs that she refused to acknowledge. Gritting her teeth, she spat back angrily, "Coward! Fight me like a _real_ man!"

There was a heartbeat of silence as the crowd gasped. Then he blinked. And for the first time in five years she saw emotion in his eyes.

Fury.

The previously clear sky quickly darkened and rumbled with thunder, blocking out the sun entirely, plunging everyone into an early night. His reiatsu glowed blue around him as it surrounded him. He still hadn't moved a muscle. Wind picked up out of nowhere, snow starting to fall from the dark clouds.

As Hitsugaya released more of his reiatsu, the weaker Shinigami in the crowd were forced to their knees, surprised at the intensity of the pressure. The captain (except for Zaraki who just grinned happily at the possibility of a proper fight) tensed up, getting ready to protect the spectators from being potential collateral damage.

"You want me to fight?" His voice was as toneless as before but deeper and quieter than before, sending shivers through those that heard.

Matsumoto's eyes widened but she quickly grasped the hilt with both hands, furrowing her brows in determination. "Yes." She nodded briefly.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then opened them slowly.

"Very well."

Just as slowly, he reached behind his back and pulled out his Zanpakutou. The pressure increased, cause some distress among the crowd as many more were forced to their knees. Some had decided that they were too close and shunpoed further away.

The temperature continued to drop. Everyone could see their breath now, and frost was forming on the ground, on the sides of the nearest building, some even found frost forming on their clothes. The crowds pushed themselves back further.

Four captains instead took a step forward. The captains of the third, fourth, seventh and ninth, who were all at the directional corners of the courtyard, raised their arms and in synchronized motions, formed a kido barrier that simply went up to the clouds. The pressure was lessened considerable, the fallen Shinigami getting shakily to their feet.

The temperature was still close to freezing and surprisingly gentle snowflakes continued to drift through the wind to land on the scene. Although it was now through a yellow wall, the gathered Shinigami could still watch the duel.

Ise turned to Kyouraku confused. "That was planned."

He nodded. "The problem with Hitsugaya-taicho's abilities, is that, just like a real winter, it knows no mercy. It is wide and destructive. They were just a precaution should he decide to… let loose." He was frowning as he watched the pair, the female steady, but obviously working hard against the rising pressure of her captain. "I didn't expect him to be this angry though." He muttered quietly, mostly to himself.

* * *

Inside the barrier, the pair had not moved but Matsumoto could feel a rising fear grow inside her. _Don't poke a sleeping bear_ was what went through her head as she watched Hitsugaya glow in the ethereal light of his reiatsu. Well, she had poked the proverbial bear. Now she had to face the teeth.

She tried not to let it show how much she was struggling to breathe under his spiritual pressure. She didn't know it was so intense. She hadn't ever felt it like this before.

He's grown. She thought. Not just taller.

Then he raised his Zanpakutou towards the sky.

"Reign upon the frozen heaven, Hyourinmaru." It was said in the same deep and dangerous monotone as before.

And then the world exploded into white and Matsumoto couldn't breathe at all.

She almost fell to her knees but out of sheer force of will stayed upright, albeit with shaky legs.

It was so dark that she could only see because of the glow of his reiatsu leaking from his body. She saw the ice dragon, the long snake-like representation of Hyourinmaru's form grow from the tip of his sword, which grew longer, a chain with a sickle forming along the other end.

She wasn't sure if the roar was out loud or in her head but it was deafening either way. She raised the hilt of her own Zanpakutou in preparation for their fight.

And then she felt the burning cold steel of a blade at her neck.

Her eyes widened belatedly. She wasn't even aware that he had moved. It was way faster than before, instantaneous to her eyes.

She couldn't move. She stared sightlessly forward, and saw the ice dragon that had dispersed into small ice crystals that sparked as they rained down. A layer of snow now covered everything inside the barrier and she could see that there was a fair amount of snow outside the barrier as well. The Shinigami who were watching were just as surprised as she was at the turn of events.

"Do you yield?"

It was whispered into her ear. When had he gotten taller than her? She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Some primal fear, encoded into her very DNA kept her frozen, as still as a statue.

The blade pressed a little harder against her throat, breaking skin and causing a small droplet of blood to trail down before it froze in place.

"Do you yield?"

His voice was softer but more dangerous. She realized that there were only three ways for this to end. Her to yield, Hitsugaya to injure her till she couldn't fight anymore, or…

Or Him to kill her right here, right now. And he would. She had called the duel and he would see it through.

In none of these options was their even a miniscule chance of her not being defeated. There never was.

"I yield." She didn't even know she was speaking until it was out. The blade disappeared and the spiritual pressure, along with the intense temperature, lifted. She witnessed in a detached way as the barrier was dropped allowing the sound of the witnessing Shinigami to wash over her as the muttered about the duel they just watched.

She saw him walk away, the crowd giving him a generous gap. She couldn't move. Ichinose hurried over to her, concern on his face.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho? Are you okay?"

She blinked. And then her legs gave away and she dropped heavily. Surprised, Ichinose tried to grab her before she fell on her face. Kotetsu-taicho hurried over. She kneeled over examining Matsumoto with professional speed. She looked closely at the small cut that had frozen over before looking deeply in her eyes.

She sighed and rose. "She's is unharmed. The cut on her neck will have healed over completely soon enough. She's just in shock. Could you escort her to her barracks? She should rest and recover.

Matsumoto wanted to protest but couldn't say or do anything other than to allow Ichinose and the fourth seat of her squad lift her and guide her carefully towards the tenth squad barracks.

* * *

3425 word count. I am awesome. Review please! I get tired from so much writing and need motivation. Side note, battles are boring to write.


	7. Chapter Six: Team Dragon

He's not all angst. Just mostly angst.

 **Disclaimer** : I am too poor to own anything.

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Team Dragon**

The stars illuminated the stone path through the garden. The soft trickling of the small stream was heard over the soft buzz of night insects. The moon was partly hidden by a cloud. It was a peaceful and tranquil night. The wind moved through the trees with a quiet rustling.

It was only hours after the duel between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto and Hitsugaya was currently walking slowly through the garden, following the path. The garden was a Shinigami Women's Association project from long ago, back when they first formed. It was mostly forgotten by the Shinigami population and therefore was usually empty. Which served Hitsugaya just fine.

It was a decent distance from the nearest squad barracks, the thirteenth. The lights of Soul Society failed to fully reach this particular garden.

He crossed the small wooden bridge and walked up the small hill, stopping near the top. He laid down and gazed at the stars.

He was here frequently. It was private and peaceful with a good view of the night sky.

His eyes traced the patterns of the constellations while his mind was blank. It was usually blank. If he wasn't in the progress of working on something, he wasn't thinking. Most thought that he was thinking of her. He wasn't. He hadn't really thought about her in years. He hadn't thought about anything in years.

He hadn't _felt_ anything in years. Today was the first time in a long time that he had felt anything even if it was only anger and only for a few minutes. He had been exhausted all day because of it. Not the duel itself but the _feeling_.

A coward. That's what she had shouted. He knew that she had only said it in an attempt to rile him up, to get him to fight. But it was true. He _was_ a coward.

He had run from her. After that night on the roof, he had finished the check-up and sent in the report. The following morning, they had been called back, saying that their work was done. He hadn't seen her again before he left. He had been afraid to.

And then when Matsumoto had presented him with another opportunity to visit her, he had been afraid again. Afraid of Soul Society, of its rules, of his position and the punishment that would be inflicted. He was afraid of her to. Afraid of the power she had over him.

Some might have said that she changed him. But that wasn't accurate. She had simply allowed him to be who he really was, the person underneath the uniform, the one he had never been allowed to show because it was hard enough getting respect as the youngest captain ever.

But she was freedom. She was life. She was the sun.

And she was gone.

When he had first seen her body, he had felt guilty. If he had been there, had not been a coward, then she would still be alive. But then night had overtaken him and he hadn't felt anything since.

He had no freedom. No life. No sun.

He was trapped in a physical form. He was dead. He was in an eternal night.

They hadn't been able to either confirm or deny if she had passed through to Rukongai. He knew that Matsumoto had looked for her the first 8 to 10 months. He also knew that it was hopeless. Even if she hadn't been killed, a) she wouldn't remember and b) chances were so slim that they were practically non-existent that she would be found.

He knew. He looked anyway.

He did it secretly. Every night for the last five years he had spent it one of two ways. Searching Rukongai for her or training with Hyourinmaru. Sleep was a forgotten memory. He slept a few hours when the rest of the world was waking up before he went to the office. Only because the first month of so, is sleeplessness had shown and Matsumoto had thrown a big stink about it and almost forced him to be locked in the fourth overnight. That would have interfered with his plans so he made sure that he got sleep every morning.

His plans were simple. Find her and kill the man in the cloak. He knew it was a man. He had no idea how he knew, he just knew.

He blinked and got up. It was much later now. Late enough that most Shinigami who were not on active guard duty or working late in their offices were asleep and the souls in Rukongai slept when the sun went down. It was for safety and also because lights were expensive.

With barely a sound, he disappeared, shunpoing away from Soul Society and the rest of civilization. He forced himself to go fast, faster than he had gone before. Every night he forced himself to go faster. He had a goal. He would surpass the Goddess of Flash to the point that even she wouldn't be able to follow his movements.

All the practice was paying off. He wasn't sure if he was even on her level since they never raced or anything but he was exponentially faster than he was five years. Still, he never let himself become complacent. He had lost too many people through complacency.

Tonight he would look. He had already searched through every single soul in the first 66 districts. He challenged himself to search and remember the feel of every single soul and which district they belonged to. It was a lot to remember but he had gotten very good at it, not even consciously thinking about it anymore.

He passed through another street in less than a second, stopping some random criminal from attacking another random person in an alley faster than either could blink. He had decided five years ago that he wouldn't let petty crime slide if he witnessed it. He wouldn't let thinks happen if he could help it.

In less than five minutes he had searched through the most densely populated part of the 67th districted. He flashed away to search the outliers before moving on to the next district. He knew that there was the real possibility that if she had shown up in one of the far away districts that if she hadn't succumbed to hunger or the elements that she might have been killed. Again.

Another district done. No sign of the familiar reiatsu. Next district. Another lack of the object of his search. Another district. And another. And another.

The night continued on and he forced himself to go faster and faster, ignoring the burn in his legs and lungs. He refused to slow down for anything. He stopped another crime in action. Checked another hovel disguised as a house. Felt another soul die from who knows what.

It was well into the night now. Another district or two and he would have to go back. He realized vaguely that he went through more districts this night than he ever had before by a huge margin. It had been several weeks since he had last looked, spending more time training with Hyourinmaru.

It now only took him a little more than half an hour through each district, making sure that he scoured areas that looked completely unpopulated, making sure there were no hidden settlements or houses or some wandering individual.

As he sped off to look at his final district before heading back he wondered why it had been so long since he had looked. There hadn't really been a conscious decision to not look. He had simply felt some underlying need to strengthen himself. Maybe it was an unconscious instinct, a knowledge that something big was going to happen that he needed to prepare for.

The 76th district was clear of any hint of her reiatsu. He paused on a tall tree devoid of leaves. He was slightly out of breath from the sheer speed and length he had gone. Around five hours of breakneck speed, invisible to even many of the Shinigami he was sure.

It was past three in the morning. He needed to be at the office at 8. It would take a little over an hour from his spot right here to get back at his top speed so far.

He would make it back in 45 minutes. And he was off.

* * *

42 and a half minutes later found him panting in front of his door. The eastern horizon was lighter now, hinting at the impending dawn. He quickly entered his captain's quarters. It was large, way too big for a single person. When he was younger, he refrained from collecting too many personal items, knowing that sentimentality, while not a weakness by any means, could be viewed as childish depending on what he collected.

And perhaps he had been. There weren't many personal items on display but there was a box, hidden under the bed even though he knew it was such an obvious spot and not at all secure, of nonsensical things that he had started to collect when he had become entered the Academy.

A piece of the first bokken he had broken. His acceptance letter. A (clean) part of the bandages from his injuries on his first mission to the human world. A rock he had accidently kicked when he had become a seated officer. His results from the captain's proficiency tests. The tattered remain of a green scarf Karin had given him, more of a joke than anything.

There was actually quite a bit of Karin memorabilia in the box. Which might explain why he hadn't so much as looked at it in five years. The last thing he had put in the box was a leaf. It had been on her roof and he had snatched it up after he had left her on her bed. He hadn't really needed anything to remember that night. It was graven into his head with a burning dagger, every excruciating, heavenly detail.

There was a moment that was displayed. A two-inch long broken twig. He had found it stuck to his sock _that_ night. He had set it on his night stand, not really conscious of what he was doing and not touched it the five years since. That was another day he didn't need anything to remember.

He finished his shower. Hot for him, barely warmer than room temperature for everyone else. He crawled into bed. He should probably have eaten something before he went to bed. He had used quite a bit of energy that night.

He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights when he had entered. Years of working in the night had given him a stronger night vision. Plus, he knew his quarters extremely well. He had been captain for around 30 years now.

He paused at that thought. Had it really been 30 years? Compared to most of the other captains, he knew that that was nothing but for his relatively short lifespan, that was a decent length.

Laying back on his pillows he prepared to go to sleep. He hadn't had a dream in five years. Sleep wasn't really sleep anymore. It was more like entering into a regenerative coma. Waking up was simply deciding that he had been still long enough.

He closed his eyes and let his body recuperate.

* * *

8 o'clock exactly found Hitsugaya sitting at his desk, organizing the new stack of paperwork he had to deal with for the day. There honestly wasn't that much but the day was still early. He knew that he was probably the only captain who actually started on his paperwork exactly on time.

The door slid open and Matsumoto walked in. Neither of them acknowledged the other. She sat down at her desk and started on her share of the work. If he cared, he would have been surprised at her. But he didn't care, so he simply continued to work.

He knew why. She had been reminded of their positions. The bond between captain and vice-captain was for pretty much everyone, extremely close and far. Close, in that they usually trusted each other more than anyone, spent more time together than with anyone else, fought alongside each other. Far, in that they were superior and subordinate. That was a wall that could not be crossed. And a wall that she had been reminded of yesterday.

It was sometime after noon, his lunch had been delivered and dutifully eaten. Hers to actually. They had not spoken to each other beyond the occasional command from him or work request or report from her. They had both worked steadily since that morning. Other than the trips that he or her own paperwork had sent her on, she had sat at her desk.

There was a knock at the door before it slid open again. He felt the reiatsu of the 11th seat from the first squad, the one in charge of the liaison between the first and the tenth squad. That was usually why he didn't look up. He knew who it was and didn't care about etiquette anymore.

The officer stopped in the middle of the room and bowed to them both. "An announcement from the first squad captain of the Gotei 13." He announced with professional abruptness.

"Speak." Was all Hitsugaya said, not pausing in his work. With Matsumoto doing her share, he would probably be finished within another hour or so. He never got paperwork done early. He wasn't sure what exactly he would do with himself if he did.

"Kyouraku-soutaicho has requested that the Shinigami personal files be updated for every Shinigami throughout Soul Society. The captains are expected to make sure that all their squad members files are updated, with their current abilities tested and catalogued according to the standard testing parameters. The captains will report to the first squad when they have completed this to have their own abilities tested and their files updated. Kyouraku-soutaicho has taken into account the overall growth of all the captains and has revised the tests so the grading curve will work better."

Matsumoto's excitement had grown with every word till she was practically bouncing in her seat. So much for finishing work early, Hitsugaya thought. She would be distracted and probably abandon her work as soon as the officer left.

There was a pause before the officer spoke again.

"Kyouraku-soutaicho has offered a reward for the first squad to complete the test in order to encourage haste. He has said that he would personally award the first captain to complete their own updates a request of their choice, whatever it is."

"What will it be?" Matsumoto asked eagerly, leaning over her desk.

"He has not told us. He said he wanted it to be a surprise."

Matsumoto practically squealed in excitement. With a brief, polite bow he shunpoed away.

Matsumoto grinned. They did this every 10 years or so but with all the wars and conflicts it had been (she mentally calculated) about 25 years since the last one, shortly after Hitsugaya had become captain.

These tests were kind of like a holiday. Normal work was interrupted and instead of the stress of tests that people had at the academy, there was an excitement as the Shinigami each tried their best to show how much they've grown. It was a bragging point for most. Many officer placements and replacements took place after the scores were catalogued.

Hitsugaya waited for the inevitable excuse before she ran off. But it didn't come. Instead he heard the scratch of her pen on paper again. He glanced for brief second at her and saw the large grin on her face and her quivering in suppressed excitement. But she was still doing her paperwork. Odd.

He refocused on his own. If she decided to put in a full day's work for once, he wasn't going to complain.

* * *

True to his estimation, they completed their paperwork in an hour. It helped that no new paperwork showed up due to the fact that the other squads most likely had neglected their own work in favor of the up-coming tests.

With the last paper signed and filed, Hitsugaya blinked slowly. He looked at his clear desk. He looked at Matsumoto's empty desk. He looked around the room for any hidden pile of paperwork. He even looked at the door, expecting a Shinigami to enter with an armful of more paperwork.

There was always paperwork. It had been the one constant in his entire time as a Shinigami, from the moment of graduation to this moment right now. Except now there wasn't. He didn't know what to do with himself. He usually had other things he planned for the hope of being done with paperwork, but he had given up that hope for five years now.

"Hitsugaya-taicho."

He looked at Matsumoto. She was standing by her desk at attention.

"With the paperwork done, would you like me to inform the rest of the squad of the upcoming tests so that they can begin their own preparations?"

He thought for a moment. He had nothing to do.

"We'll go together."

Her shock was evident in ever part of her, from her gawking expression to her suddenly slack body. He rose and headed for the door.

"Call them together in the main hall quickly. It will be easier to let them know all at once."

Her fumbled "Yes!" was heard before he walked out and headed for the archives.

* * *

Every squad had archives. He didn't visit them very often, usually sending someone else to either get or file what he needed. But, again, he had nothing else to do.

The Shinigami that he passed in the hallways as he made his way all reacted the same. There was a moment of shock at seeing him (Had it really been so long since his troops saw him in person?) before the hurried snap to attention and a swift bow. Most even gave the more formal "Hitsugaya-taicho!" greeting as he passed.

He didn't bother to reply. Another etiquette that he simply didn't care about.

The archives were rows and rows of filing cabinets and bookcases on either side of the main walkway. It was three stories, one below and one above, with open walkways and ladders that allowed one to see all three stories from any floor.

He saw a few Shinigami among the rows, filing stacks of paper. One unfortunate Shinigami actually dropped her papers onto the floor below her, landing on a Shinigami who had been looking through a shelf. He had passed by before they had even recovered enough to do more than gape.

He walked straight up to the large console and screen that allowed for a digital search of the archives as well as a map for where they could find the hard copy of whatever they needed.

There was a Shinigami typing away when he reached it. He paused, considering whether he wanted to interrupt her to use it himself, or whether he should just wait.

He didn't have to make the choice however, because she felt his presence and looked up. She froze when she caught sight of him. Then she blinked. Then she jumped to attention with a snappiness that must have hurt.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" In her nervousness, she was louder than needed, effectively alerting the rest of the entire archives of his presence. He saw faces peeking around cabinets and shelves.

He nodded. "I need the use of the console."

She jumped aside before he had even finished his sentence with another loud, "Yes, Hitsugaya-taicho!"

He walked up to it but stopped. He looked at her. Her eyes widened in fright.

"Actually, you could help me." She straightened even more at the prospect. He looked up at all the various Shinigami who were shamelessly gawking at the sight of their captain in the archives.

"All of you can help this go a lot faster." He beckoned with his hand. Their response was instantaneous. Within a minute, every single Shinigami who had happened to be in the archives at that particular moment was suddenly in front of him in a standard block formation, all at attention.

All but one was unseated, no doubt sent by higher-ranking officers to do paperwork for them. The only seated officer was the newest, Hitsugaya remember signing the paperwork for his position just last week. Low man on the totem pole.

"Since people forget to check here anyway, I'll just announce it to you now. Kyouraku-soutaicho has called for another Shinigami skill test." He saw the widening of eyes and the subtle glances. "I am going to announce it in a few minutes to everyone else in the main hall. You here I'm putting in charge of collecting the necessary files and forms in order to be prepared when I do.

"Officer Kikuchi." He addressed seated officer who stood taller at being addressed by name. "You are in charge. There will be a rush after the announcement for everyone to get their files first. Keep them out. It took too long to clean up the mess last time. I want the files organized and delivered to the officers of each team so they can oversee their distribution in an orderly manner."

Hitsugaya had long ago organized his entire squad into official teams. Every seated officer was in charge of three team leaders each. The size of each team was anywhere from 5 to 10 unseated Shinigami. They were really only for emergencies or moments like this when he needed complete order simultaneously throughout his squad. They were numbered but he knew that many teams liked to name themselves. Team Dragon was popular title and he had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of him.

"Complete this task however you see fit." Haste and efficiency was expected.

"Yes, Hitsugaya-taicho!"

He nodded in response and turned to walk back out the archives. At the door he paused and looked back. Kikuchi had already turned to face his new team and was explaining his plan for carrying out Hitsugaya's orders. It was a good plan, at least the part that Hitsugaya heard. He knew Kikuchi was a valuable addition to his officers. He wouldn't be surprised at all if he rose through the ranks quickly.

Stuck with a fleeting impression, he called back to them, halting Kikuchi mid-sentence.

"Since all of you are being pulled from other teams, you'll need a name. Just a temporary one should I need to get a hold of you."

They glanced at each other before looking back at him with expressions of curiosity and expectation.

"You can be… Team Dragon."

* * *

I just thought it would be fun. Let's face it, if there really were teams, they would so fight over the name Team Dragon. It's like saying that they are Toushirou's team. (I would be on that team.) A little explanation and a little fluff. It's been too dark for my liking. Review please!


	8. Chapter Seven: Paperwork

Nothing happening really. Just a filler explaining some things in a roundabout way.

 **Disclaimer** : Does no one question why Ichigo is gone for long periods of time? Or wonder why is constantly injured? Someone should have reported possible abuse or something. Seriously.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Paperwork**

All the Shinigami in the tenth squad were gathered in the great hall already by the time Hitsugaya made it there. Well, almost all. As he predicted, they had forgotten to check the archives.

It would make a great place to hide, should Soul Society be attacked, he thought idly. Again.

When he walked in, there was an expanding ripple of silence as they all watched him make his way to the front where a small raised platform had been set up long ago by some former captain who wanted to see and be seen by all his troops. When Hitsugaya had first been made captain, even when standing on the platform, he had been shorter than the Shinigami in the front.

Not anymore.

Matsumoto was already on the platform, standing in an excited form of attention. She was practically beaming when he stopped next to her. The tension in the air was palpable. It had been several years since he had stood in front of his troops. Five to be exact.

"Kyouraku-soutaicho has issued another Shinigami skill test." He explained, without any fanfare. There was a ripple of excited whispers before it was quieted again.

"I trust that you have all been constantly working to further your skills. We will begin right away. We will work with the standard teams. I have created a temporary team that will deliver the proper files and forms to each officer. The officers will be in charge of the team leaders who will make sure that every member of their team has completed the test and properly filed and reported the results to their officers who will in turn report to the temporary team, Team Dragon."

There was a ripple of whispers again at the announcement of the team name. He would have smiled. If he smiled. Or cared.

"Team leaders will be the last to perform the tests and they will be overseen by the officer in charge. After all teams and their leaders has completed their test, then the officers will perform theirs. Those will be overseen by Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

He paused a moment, surveying his entire squad. There were a lot.

"There will be punishments should any team lose even one file." Last time, 16 different people had somehow managed to not only lose their paperwork for the tests but their whole file. Many more had later found out that parts of their files had disappeared somehow. That was another headache he did not want. "I expect this to be an orderly and efficient affair."

He cocked his head thinking. Perhaps he should copy Kyouraku's example.

"The first team to complete the tests with the proper filing will be rewarded. And…" There was another round of whispers. "If we manage to be the first squad to complete the tests, Kyouraku-soutaicho has promised to fulfill one request, whatever it is."

And with that he walked off.

* * *

The next week solid was ridiculously busy. Soul Society was put on a standstill, paperwork-wise, in a hurry to be the first squad.

If Hitsugaya had felt anything, he would have been proud at the speed and efficiency that his squad acted with. Other captains had commented on his formation of teams and some had even tried to emulate it, but it had proven too difficult to organize.

Soul Society had proven itself to be very averse to change. That was something that Hitsugaya had once prided himself on. Being the youngest captain ever, he had been more accepting of change and had the energy and motivation to back it up. When he had first presented the idea of teams to his then captain, Shiba-taicho, his captain had praised his genius and let him be in charge of forming them. It had proven impossible until he had gained enough authority and been promoted to third seat.

Even then, it was hard. It wasn't until he was captain that it gained any real momentum. But once it was finalized, and the squad had accepted it, it worked like a machine. Most of the time.

Now was one of those times when it worked with and efficiency that other captains were jealous of.

At the end of the week, He already had more than half of the teams' files, their scores added up and stored in the archives.

Some squads sent the files to the first squad as they were completed, some sent them in chunks. Hitsugaya decided that this time he would wait. This way he could make sure that not one file was misplaced or forgotten or lost. Like last time. There was a definite learning curve.

"Hitsugaya-taicho."

It was the Shinigami on Team Dragon, the one that he had spoken to initially at the console. Hara, if he wasn't mistaken. And he so rarely was.

He was sitting at his desk, signing off on another teams completed test results. All results had to be signed by a fourth seat or higher. Not having anything else to do, Hitsugaya had undertaken the task to himself.

"I have all of officers Fujii, Miyake, Oonishi, and Higa's teams' paperwork. Just the page that requires your signature, as requested." She lifted the stack of papers in her arms slightly.

He reached out a hand wordlessly. It was good timing, really. He had just finished the last batch of teams. He was a little surprised at the speed, honestly. Last time, it had taken two months to finalize everything before he had even gotten to the officers, much less his own test. They were definitely using this system again next time.

As soon as the papers were in his hands, he started the signing. At this rate, he would be going in for his own test next week.

Hara took the already signed stack from his desk, ready to be filed, and had backed away slightly but hadn't left.

"What?" he asked not looking up.

"Sir, our original team leaders have a concern."

He said nothing, waiting. Getting the hint, she continued. "They expressed the… advantage other teams had over them since not all of their team members are available to take the tests. Specifically, those with members in Team Dragon." He could feel her blush from where he sat.

"Team Dragon has been exempted from the tests until the rest of the squad has finished their paperwork. The teams with missing members are to report the results of their team members minus those of Team Dragon as if they were not missing any. Team Dragon will be rewarded along with whichever team was first, for their part in all of this."

He had actually thought about it earlier in the week when the first team had won. (He hadn't told his squad which team it was. He said that he would announce it when the squad was done.) He was surprised it had taken this long for them to realize it. They must be so focused on getting it all done, it had slipped their minds.

"We will?" Her surprise and smile was clear. She seemed to realize her slip, questioning his explanation, and recovered quickly, bowing. "Thank you, Hitsugaya-taicho."

He said nothing. She turned to leave and he called out, "If I'm not here when the next batch of paperwork comes in, just leave it on my desk."

"Yes, Hitsugaya-taicho." The door closed. He finished signing the last paper of the stack and set down the pen. Over 30 years of signing his name had left him with the ability to sign a paper in 2 seconds flat. What was really surprising was that he actually spelled out his name. The scribble that most captains' and officers' signatures inevitably morphed into irked him. It was way too easy to copy. Matsumoto had once tried to forge his signature on a sake order form but it had proven too difficult due to the amount of individual, distinct letters.

He stood and left his office. The hallway was busy with Shinigami running back and forth, to take tests or fill out forms or file said forms. Some didn't even see him as he passed, to absorbed in what they were doing, determined to finish their tasks as quickly as possible.

Every space available was used for the tests. Some of the officers' offices had been cleared out in an attempt to make more room for Shinigami's to show their abilities. There had been several pieces of furniture broken or ruined in some way due to various shikai's. One office now sported a fist sized hole when a particularly enthusiastic Shinigami had been a little too eager with his shikai.

He paused at the entrance to the main hall where seven different tests where being overlooked at the same time. He knew the dojo and the outside training fields held even more. There was going to be a fair amount of repairs and clean-up after this. He would get them started on it while he took his.

Captain skill tests took much longer than the rank and file. For one, they had more moves to perform and an added bankai on top of a shikai. Also, they had to be done one at a time, in a designated private area near the first squad's barracks. It was specially reinforced to hold in captain level reiatsu. It was actually located underneath the hill, in the caves. It was huge, reaching one side of the hill to the other, and tall enough that the ceiling was too dark to see.

It had been 25 years since he had been in it. He had passed the initial captain test when he had first been appointed and then had had to take it again not five years later when the entire Soul Society had to. That was it.

Being as young as he was, he had only taken the test 5 times in total. To graduate from the academy, once when he was an unranked Shinigami, once as a seated officer, once to become a captain, and last time. Most captains had taken the test countless times before they became captains. Just another example of the oddity that was Hitsugaya Toushiro.

He had spent all the nights this past week training. He decided that he would look again when this was all over. He wasn't annoyed with the tests. Even if he cared about anything, he wouldn't have been.

It was a chance to know exactly how much he had grown and how much he still had to improve. It gave him a milestone to judge his abilities off of.

He made his way outside, passing the dojo. There were shouts and a large bang followed by more shouting. Someone's test had apparently interfered with someone else's.

The outside training area was mostly flat ground, a few large rocks as natural obstacles dotted it. It was surrounded by various kinds of trees that were used for location training. And everywhere was covered in Shinigami, some taking the tests, some watching and keeping track of their abilities.

He saw one Shinigami recite a Kido spell, another going through the standard sword formations. A hakudo fight was beyond that, someone's shikai throwing small blades a distance beyond that.

Matsumoto was standing near the middle of the field, overseeing someone's test. As he watched, an officer ran up to her looking nervous and gestured frantically over to a small crowd that had gathered around a Shinigami that was passed out on the ground. Apparently, they had managed to knock themselves out with a backfiring Kido spell.

She ran over and bent over the fallen Shinigami. After a moment she shook her head, apparently convinced his life was not in danger, and commanded a couple of spectators to carry him to his bunk to recover.

Hitsugaya turned around and headed back to his office. Matsumoto was a good vice-captain. She took care of the troops well. She was the heart to his authority. She connected with people more. It was why she had challenged him to a duel. He knew it. He was not angry with her about it.

His desk already had a large stack of papers waiting to be signed. He sat down and began signing.

* * *

Once again, his estimation was right. Exactly one week later he signed the final paper on Matsumoto's test results. She had been more than satisfactory. Her scores were greatly improved from 25 years ago. Everyone's were.

Kikuchi took the finished stack with a smile.

"When you are done organizing the last files, I want you to gather Team Dragon and anyone else you might need. We will carry the files to first squad."

He paused, looking slightly confused. "'We'?" He asked.

Hitsugaya nodded. "It's time for me to take mine."

Kikuchi's eyes widened. "Yes, Hitsugaya-taicho!" He said enthusiastically and quickly left.

Hitsugaya sat in silence at his desk for a few minutes. The noises of the entire barracks was subdued, the tests over and the Shinigami resting from the hectic two weeks. Hitsugaya would have been proud of his squad. If he cared. He knew they were the first ones done.

No one had ever completed a squad-wide examination process in two weeks. The previous record had been one month, the longest had been a record 8 months. It had been the 11th squad to no one's surprise. They were legendarily bad at paperwork.

He got up and strapped Hyourinmaru to back, his dragon growling in comfort at being reunited with his wielder.

He made his way to the entrance of the tenth squad, the large doors with the insignia of the number ten painted on them. They were open, as they usually were during the day. Shinigami bowed in passing while he waited. He nodded his head distractedly in return. He folded his arms and stared sightlessly out the doors. There was nothing interesting to see, just a large courtyard with running Shinigami passing through, paperwork in their hands.

Five minutes later, he heard a group of Shinigami come up behind him and recognized all of Team Dragon as well as several other unseated Shinigami, enlisted to help carry the files over.

He turned and raised an eyebrow at no less than 15 Shinigami, each with a large stack of folders in their arms approached. He knew that it was a copy of every single updated file on his entire squad sans him.

Kikuchi led the way, his own arms laden with files. "Ready Hitsugaya-taicho."

"Taicho~" Hitsugaya looked up to see Matsumoto running up to them. She arrived with a smile. "I heard! Going to take your own test? I'll come with!" She bounced happily through the doors.

"No." She froze, on foot raised slightly, mid-step.

"Eh?"

"I need you here to oversee clean-up of the barracks. I need a complete list of all the damage and I need you to start overseeing the repairs. Give me a write up on the estimated budget required."

Her dejection was evident as her whole body drooped. "Taicho~!" She whined.

He ignored her and headed out the doors himself. "I'll also need the consensus request that I will present to Kyouraku-taicho. It needs to be a majority vote, Matsumoto, not a year's supply of sake."

* * *

They arrived at the first squad unhindered although they had gotten a lot of stares as they passed. It was a lot of paperwork. Hitsugaya led to way straight to the main office. The doors had been propped open by a stack of paperwork, which only further emphasized the insanity within.

It was a large room, the third through fourteenth seat each had a desk with a large space around them, their filing cabinets making walls between desks. Almost all the officers were frantic, busy with work. Each of these officers were in charge of paperwork for their respective squads. They each had a team of Shinigami to help them sort through and file and digitally update all the paperwork but every single one was swamped, the crazy lack of system with other squads reporting taking its toll on the officers.

The only ones with little or nothing to do was the 11th and 12th seats, in charge of the 10th and 11th squads respectively. The 12th seat was idly examining one of the four files they had received so far from the 11th squad. The 11th seat was sitting nervously, trying to find work to do as his lack of paperwork was no doubt stressing him out more than if he had too much.

The entire office paused in their activity to gape at the 16 Shinigami striding in and heading straight for the 11th seat. He stood up quickly, his own face gaping in shock.

Hitsugaya stood to the side, nodding at Kikuchi to drop of the files and explain the system.

With a thud, he let his stack of files land on the desk, directly in front of the officer.

"These three stacks are all the seated officers." He gestured to Hara and another Shinigami to set down their stack next to his. "They are in order of rank, Matsumoto-fukutaicho's on top." He pointed to the file. With another wave of his hand the rest of the files landed on the floor in neat, orderly piles. "These are all the rest of the squad, alphabetically. A's are on this side."

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected it to be _that_ organized. Alphabetically? They must have been organizing it as it came in as the teams were _not_ based alphabetically.

There was stunned silence, the rustling of loose paper as it gently floated through the air to the ground the only sound. The 11th seat could only gawk. The jealousy of every single other Shinigami in the room could be felt in waves.

"Your- all of you- you're all-" He struggled to come up with words. "You're all done?" He squeaked out, looking up at Hitsugaya who simply nodded, his arms crossed. The officer collapsed on the seat, his face turning up in a slow grin. There were mutters now throughout the office.

"I'm ready to take the examination."

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the doors to Kyouraku's office burst open and he swept into the office, Ise trailing behind him. He had a soft smile.

"What's this I hear about you being done and ready to take the test?"

Hitsugaya didn't bother to respond to the idiotic question. He had known Kyouraku had been listening in the moment he set foot in the office.

"Excellent!" He continued, taking Hitsugaya's silence in stride. "Then let's begin!"

* * *

I bet Kyouraku is bored waiting for the captains to be done so he can have his fun. Reviews might make the plot go faster!


	9. Chapter Eight: The Results

Cause I love showing Hitsugaya as awesome.

 **Disclaimer** : This chapter would be canon.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: The Results**

"That was… surprising."

"…Yeah."

"…I did not expect him to have grown so much."

"It has been 25 years since he was last tested."

"Yeah."

"…"

"You know the truly frightening thing?"

"Sir?"

"He still hasn't fully matured."

"…What?!"

"His human equivalent age would probably be around 14."

"…What."

"Yeah. He looks like an adult but his abilities are still growing."

"…"

"…I once made an estimation during the Winter War that in 100 years he would be stronger than me."

"Sir?"

"I'd like to amend that."

"What do you mean?"

"He will not only be stronger than me but more powerful in every aspect. And it has already happened."

* * *

The news that the tenth squad had completed all the required tests (including the captain) and had finished filing everything, had spread, like everything else in Soul Society, like wildfire.

Jealous squads had passed by the tenth squad entrance and watched with pained expressions the relaxed, happy expressions of those inside, before slinking off to file their own paperwork with sour expressions.

The 11th squad had actually tried to recruit (spelled 'intimidate') the free Shinigami to file their own paperwork. Hitsugaya had personally responded to the threat, sending the Shinigami back to their barracks with frostbite and a healthy appreciation for other captains.

By the following week, even the repairs were done and the entire squad was left with the strange sensation of having a legitimate break. For the first time in the living memory of the entire squad, they had absolutely no work to do other than the customary guard duty.

Some chose to train, unhappy with their results. Some chose to relax. Many small parties/gatherings had taken place due to the time off. Matsumoto was a part of each one, bringing the sake.

The eleventh seat officer of the first squad walked into the barracks during one of the particularly loud parties. It was evening so Matsumoto took that as a legitimate excuse to get everyone drunk.

He walked quickly to the captain's office. Knocking, he opened the door to find it empty. He blinked, finding it odd that for the first time in years, he entered the tenth division's captain's office to find Hitsugaya-taicho _not_ there.

He stopped a passing Shinigami to ask him for the location of his captain.

He followed his instructions to the training field, where there were a fair amount of Shinigami trying to overcome their discovered weaknesses. He looked around but couldn't find the tell-tale flash of spiky, white hair.

"Goto-san!"

Matsumoto, only slightly tipsy, had apparently made her way outside.

He nodded in greeting. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

She ignored his formal tone and slung an arm familiarly over his shoulder. "You should come to the party. We are celebrating! We have absolutely no more work until another division finishes their tests!" She lowered her voice to a drunken whisper, which was just a raspy and slurred normal volume. "I have it on good authority that we won't have to worry about that until next month!" She grinned and offered him the half-empty sake bottle she had in her other hand.

He refused and gently pried her arm off his shoulders. "I'm looking for your captain. I have his scores." He lifted the sealed file in his hands.

Matsumoto paused mid-drink. Sobering up surprisingly fast, she turned her full attention to him. "I'll take it to him." She smiled sweetly and raised a hand for the file.

He shook his head. "I know you just want to see the results." He had learned long ago how to deal with the vice-captain of the tenth division. "I need to hand this to Hitsugaya-taicho personally so I can report back. And then I'll be done with paperwork until these tests are over." He added with a small grin.

He was not normally this casual but he had known Matsumoto for a very long time and he was in a good mood. Filing all the results had been ridiculously easy thanks to their thoughtful alphabetizing ahead of time. He was looking forward to his own vacation.

She pouted. "You don't trust me?" She tried to push out her chest to bribe her way but (although he was still a guy and very much appreciated the view) he had developed a resistance to her and shook his head.

"Just tell me where he is and I'm sure he'll let you know. It's not like it's that big of a secret. Another couple of weeks and it will be public knowledge.

Scores like these were compiled into one main file that could be perused by everyone. Just the overall scores, not specifics in case it fell into the wrong hands.

She huffed and grumbled. "Fine. He's probably in the community garden. He's been spending a lot of time there this past week." Goto nodded and headed towards the gardens, leaving Matsumoto to look after him with a somber expression.

She was curious to his scores but more than that, she was worried about her captain. He _had_ been spending a lot of time there. With no paperwork to do or anything else to oversee or do, he had been like a zombie, having no real purpose, just wandering around. He sat in silence alone doing nothing but staring off into space. She never thought that she would wish for the days when he had paperwork, if just to see him _doing_ something.

Every division had a community garden, a quiet place that could be visited by any squad member. It was a place to destress and find some peace away from the Shinigami life. Some squads took better care of their gardens than others. The eleventh squad garden was little more than rocks and weeds as they rarely if ever bothered looking for 'peace'.

He was there, just sitting on one of the benches, staring sightlessly into the pond.

"Hitsugaya-taicho."

He didn't look up. Goto wasn't offended. Hitsugaya never responded to anyone anymore.

"I have the results from your captain's skill test." He offered him the file. Hitsugaya took it wordlessly, still not looking up from the water. With a bow, he left.

Hitsugaya looked down at the file. He broke the seal. On top of the stack of papers was a note, written in Kyouraku's hand.

 _Hitsugaya-kun_

 _I was very impressed by your score. There is a breakdown of how we graded each part based on the new grading system. I think we underestimated just how strong we've grown. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that you are one of the highest scorers._

 _You also get the honor of have a request fulfilled. Come to me when you know what you want. Congratulations!_

 _Kyouraku_

He skimmed through the new grading system, familiarizing himself with how it worked. It was similar to the last one, the same basics for each part. The main change was the grading curve. It was still out of 600 but the individual points were weighted differently.

Mentally calculating his previous score of 500 based on the new score came out to something around 150 or lower.

With that in mind, he flipped the page. The top page was the hexagon that gave a visible representation of the score with its breakdown of points awarded.

Offense: 95/100

Defense: 90/100

Mobility: 100/100

Kido/Reiatsu: 100/100

Intelligence: 90/100

Physical Strength: 90/100

Total score: 565/600

He might have been pleased. If he cared.

* * *

Three months later and all but the 11th squad had finished and filed all their results. Work resumed like normal. Which meant paperwork had resumed. Which meant Hitsugaya was once again at his desk, filling out another report and signing another form.

Matsumoto's helpfulness when doing the paperwork had ended after that first day. Hitsugaya had expected it would.

The woman in question opened the door and strode in the office.

"Taicho, we have the request we want you to make to Kyouraku-soutaicho."

Hitsugaya signed his name and looked at report of konso's preformed in the last month.

"It was decided unanimously that we want to be the lead division for major conflicts."

Hitsugaya paused in his reading. He looked up. Matsumoto was standing stiffly at attention, looking defiantly at a spot above his head.

After a moment of silence as he considered the request, he spoke up. "I will let Kyouraku-soutaicho know." Matsumoto looked at him in surprise. She had evidently thought that he would argue or something against her.

He rose from his desk. "This is not a request that he can grant just because we wish it. If you want that honor than you must earn it. I expect a detailed plan on how you plan on training the division in order to be worthy of this request by the end of tomorrow. You may get help from the others. Their input may be invaluable."

He left a shocked Matsumoto behind.

* * *

The first division was still in disarray, having to wait for the other divisions to finish before they could even begin their own examinations. Their version of disarray was much more controlled than the others, centuries of practice letting them know how.

He walked through the main office. The officers at the desks nodded respectfully as he passed. He knocked on the door of Kyouraku's office.

"Come in."

Kyouraku's desk was completely hidden in paperwork, Ise standing faithfully next to him, making sure he stayed on task.

"Ah! Hitsugaya-kun! To what do I owe this pleasure?" His relief at the distraction was as obvious as Ise's annoyance.

"I have my division's request for being the first to complete the tests."

Kyouraku raised his eyebrow, clasping his hands in front of him. "Very well. If it is in my power, I will grant it. I did promise."

"It was apparently a unanimous decision. They want the honor of being the lead division in major conflicts."

Both of the officers in front of him looked shocked.

"I admit, when I offered the award, that was not what I had in mind." Kyouraku chuckled softly.

"I understand that you might have reservations but I would not have presented this request if I didn't think that my division could handle it. They have proven to me that they are organized and efficient. I have seen all their scores and believe that their abilities are sufficient. I left my officers in charge of drawing up a training regime to further improve individual and group proficiency. I will have to you by the end of the week."

There was a long pause after his words, Kyouraku gazing at him with a look of deep concentration as if sizing him up. Hitsugaya returned the stare unblinkingly.

Finally, Kyouraku said, "Very well."

It was his turn to receive Ise's expression of shock. Hitsugaya, however, simply gave a small bow and turned to leave.

"I expect you to personally oversee their training, Hitsugaya-taicho." Hitsugaya paused for a half-second before continuing through the door, shutting it behind him.

"You can't be serious!" Ise exclaimed, the second the click was heard. "That's not something that you can just give to any division just because they ask for it! It's a case to case basis. Or the first division leads-"

"Nanao-chan. I believe that the tenth division is more than capable of leading." He raised a hand to stop her protests. "They are the most well-rounded division, unlike the eleventh or twelfth. They have more than just a strong core group of fighters, their strength spread pretty evenly throughout their ranks. Their tests were satisfactory, their totals being one of the highest in all of Gotei 13. And they proved by being the first that that they are more than capable of working quickly and are very organized. His idea for the teams within his division is truly revolutionary."

Ise was silent at his explanation. He gave another small chuckle. "And besides, so far, Hitsugaya-kun has the highest score among any of the captains. By over 100 points."

"That's just because you haven't taken the examination yet." She was quick to rebuff.

He laughed. "I appreciate your commendation, Nanao-chan, but I don't even know if I will get a higher score. In fact, I'm sure I won't. Not only does he have his natural intellect going for him but he is much younger. He has the vitality of youth that I lost many centuries ago."

Ise continued to protest this but Kyouraku was lost in thought, contemplating the most powerful and youngest captain in possibly the history of the Gotei 13.

* * *

Just a short one. I think the next one will have more action. Or not. We'll see how many reviews I get.


	10. Chapter Nine: The Other Side

I just want to give a special thank you for those that reviewed. I get a giddy feeling for every review I get. BTW, I'm currently working on Chapter 16, the other chapters completely written. If you want me to update faster than I need more reviews.

 **Disclaimer** : I wish

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: The Other Side**

Rukongai had 320 registered districts. Past that, no Shinigami had ever gone and returned to report. It was considered the unofficial 321st district. It had no boundaries, just continued on to the end, whatever that was.

The first three districts were actually very nice, heavily populated and considered the most civilized out of all of them. The next 15 to 20 were decent, livable but poorer.

The 21st district to the 45th were places that respectable only went if they had to. And it all went downhill from there. Most Shinigami didn't go past the 75th district unless they absolutely had to. Which was next to none.

The further districts were not decent. A person lived by the skin of their own teeth. It was every man for themselves at the best of cases. Water was scarce and food was practically nonexistent. The strongest man ruled until he was killed by someone even stronger or luckier than him.

Laws and rules didn't exist. What most considered as civilization didn't exist.

In the 80th district east, a woman was running for her life. Her medium-length black hair, unwashed and un-brushed flowed behind her. Her rags she called a kimono fluttered around her legs. It was too small to really be considered modest.

Her arms were wrapped tightly around a small package wrapped in a dirty cloth. She cradled the package like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Stop you bi-" the curse was cut off by a well-aimed rock that was thrown by the escapee. It hit her pursuer right smack in the middle of the forehead with such a force that he was knocked back. He probably wouldn't live through an injury like that. If the neglect didn't kill him through infection, some weaker criminal would slit his throat in order to steal him naked.

She would feel bad having essentially killed him if he hadn't been aiming to kill her. The rest of her pursuers had given up long ago. She was known in these parts as the fastest person. Once you lost sight of her, you never found her again.

She didn't slow down. You never knew who was lurking in the shadows or behind a wall.

She headed through the shacks (nothing more than a few flat-ish pieces of rotting wood propped together to resemble a child's estimation of a house) in a path that only she knew. Unkind eyes were seen in the dark but left the runner alone.

She headed out of the 'populated' area. Scraggly, bare trees and tall, sharp rocks were the only thing she passed for a while before arriving at a cluster of curiously grouped boulders. She glanced around to make sure she had no witnesses before quickly ducking in a shadowy part.

Surprisingly, there was an inside. The boulders formed a small cave, protected from the elements and those that might do its inhabitants harm, but open enough to filter in natural light and circulate air.

There was a pile of rags in one 'corner' that represented a bed and flat-ish stone in another that represented a table. A few chipped and broken jars with dirty rags for lids were lined up against the 'wall' next to the 'table'.

She crouched over the pile of rags. She put out a hand and gently shook the rags.

"Hana-chan. Hana. Wake up. I have a surprise."

The pile shifted and a petite, dirty face peeked out. The face had the same thin, malnourished, and desperate look everyone in these parts had. The face was young, very young, barely a hint of womanhood in the pale pink cheeks and lips.

"Karin-chan? What is it?"

Karin grinned, a rebellious and proud glint in her obsidian eyes. "You'll never guess."

At the prospect of a surprise, the girl named Hana sat up. Her own 'clothes' matched perfectly with her 'bed'. "Did you get more water?" She asked excitedly.

"Even better."

Hana's eyes widened. Better than water? Was there such a thing?"

Karin gently held out the wrapped package. With eager, trembling, and bone-thin fingers, she took the package with just as much caution and quickly unwrapped it. She gasped loudly at what she saw.

It was dry. It was hard. There was even a little bit of mold on the tip of it. But it was bread.

"How-" Words failed her as she looked at the prize with glowing eyes.

"Some drunk said he got it from one of the lower districts. I nabbed it from him while he was busy fighting someone else for it." There was a fair amount of glee in her voice as she said this.

"Oh Karin." Hana looked up at her dark-haired counter-part with pride.

"Well what are you waiting for? Try it!" Karin gestured excitedly.

"Let's share it!" Hana exclaimed. "You need it more than I do. You are more powerful than I am."

Karin scoffed but accepted the broken off piece. She _was_ hungry. She was always hungry actually, she just grew to accept that as part of life in the 97th Rukongai district.

With reverence, the both took a bite at the same time. It was as hard as it felt. It was mostly tasteless. But it was heavenly. Within seconds, all traces of the bread were gone. They both sat in a moment of silence, simply enjoying their meal.

"Thank you Karin-chan. You are always so good to me."

"You deserve someone to look after you. And you're too nice for your own good. You don't belong way out here. You belong in the nicer districts. Where water is available and food is actually _made_."

Hana giggled. It was a happy, bubbly laugh that belonged amid a meadow of flowers, not in a dark, cave-like thing with rags for a bed.

"If anyone deserves to go there, it's you, Karin-chan. You should have a proper kimono, and a hair brush, and a soft bed made entirely of feathers and clean, white sheets. And who knows, you might even catch the eye of some rich guy who will lavish you with gifts of pearls and silk and pillows."

Karin laughed, a laugh that seemed to be pulled from her very gut, filling every cell before escaping from her dark red lips in an explosion of happiness. "I know what _you_ dream of!"

Hana blushed, her pale face turning entirely pink. "Are dreams a bad thing?"

Karin smiled fondly at her young friend. "Absolutely not. Dream on, my flower. And make it a big one."

* * *

The sun went down, which effectively meant that everyone stayed inside and hid from the darkness that seeped everywhere. The only lights were the stars and the thin crescent of a moon.

Karin and Hana were bundled together underneath the pile of rags, cuddling together for warmth. Hana was asleep, evident by the soft, rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. Karin on the other hand was gazing at the 'roof' of their cave.

She had woken up one day with no memory of where she was or how she got there. She had no mind of a past. The only thing she could remember was her name (or she assumed it was her name), Karin and a strange feeling that the colors white and blue-green were important. It was strange because she had no idea _why_.

She discovered extremely fast that this world that she had woken up to was dangerous and cruel. Within 20 minutes she was running for her life. Some creep of a guy had seen her and apparently been attracted enough to try and attack her.

She had escaped because a young, brown-haired girl had thrown a rock at her pursuer, knocking him out. That girl had been Hana. Since then, Karin had vowed to protect her. It was good because they were the only females for miles around.

Hana had hidden and fought to live for some time before that day that Karin had woken up and yet she was still a happy, playful person that saw rainbow and sunshine everywhere. Only an hour in and Karin was more jaded than her.

At the moment, Karin was pondering everything that they had gone through. She hadn't bothered to count the days but she knew that 5 winters had passed. Winters were always memorable. And not just because they had to fight so hard to survive them.

Something about the cold was both attractive and off-putting to Karin. She was drawn to them, like a moth to a flame. But like a moth, they hurt. She was more susceptible to the cold than Hana. Karin couldn't understand herself.

Karin thought about Hana. She loved Hana. She was the only good thing about this whole situation. Karin would die for her. And she wanted to make Hana happy, to keep that beautiful smile on her face. She would give anything. But smiles were few and far between here. And all the more precious because of it.

She decided. She would move Hana out of here. They would go to one of the lower districts. Somewhere with food. They both needed it. And Karin knew just how close they were flirting with death by starvation. Earlier that day she had actually collapsed from hunger. The piece of bread had been the only food in days.

Hana was oddly content with staying where they were but Karin wouldn't have it. They needed to leave. If they didn't, they would not survive. And if there was one thing Karin was, it was a survivor.

She glimpsed a few stars through one of the holes in the roof. She loved the stars. They were beautiful and peaceful and reminded Karin of… something. Karin wasn't sure but it left her with a warm feeling in her chest.

The warm feeling blossoming, Karin settled down further in the 'bed' and shut her eyes.

* * *

She was having that dream again. A dream of darkness. There was light emanating from cracks in the black ground, a red glow that seemed to burn. Above was stars. But they were always seen through a haze, like some kind of film was over her eyes. Karin turned around.

Like always, there was the chair, a throne really, covered in shadows. And a figure sat on the throne, as dark and shadowy as their seat. She could _feel_ the smirk coming from the figure.

"Are you going to say anything today?" Karin asked, not without some bitterness. It was always the same. The figure sat in silence and it seemed that no matter how hard Karin tried, she couldn't get close. Something always stopped her. Some giant crack would open, revealing burning lava. Darkness would completely overcome her till she couldn't see her own hand. Or Karin would simply wake up.

Silence. Big surprise. Karin decided to ignore the figure on the throne and instead look at the stars. She wished she could see them clearly. They didn't really light up anything, too dim to do much. But they were pretty and they warmed Karin's heart.

Suddenly she whirled around, facing the figure again.

"Did you say something?" Karin asked surprised. There it was again. A noise. Like words but words through a thick wall. She could tell they were talking but couldn't make out what they were saying.

"What? Speak louder!" Karin stepped closer but was stopped by the ground breaking open before, a gap that she knew she wouldn't be able to cross. "I can't hear you!"

* * *

Karin opened her eyes. It was slightly brighter, showing that morning was coming. Hana was still asleep but had rolled away from her during the night. Or maybe Karin had.

Karin sat up. There was no real point. They had nothing to do. They never had anything to do. Just try to survive another day. Karin was tired of it. Sick of it really.

She quickly got up and went to one of the jars, pulling of the cloth revealing mostly clean water. She took a sip. It cooled her parched throat pleasantly. Hana stirred.

"Karin-chan?"

Karin brought the jar over to Hana who sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "Morning already?"

Karin nodded and handed her the jar. She watched her sip it carefully, making sure to not drink too much, no matter how much she wanted to. There were no natural waters near so it would have to last until the next time it rained.

"Hana. I've been thinking." Hana looked at her expectantly. "I think we should leave."

There was a pause. Hana frowned slightly. Karin hurried on. "We can't live like this for much longer. If we don't find more food, we will both die. You haven't been able to leave this cave in days because of your hunger. There is nothing for us here."

"Better the danger we know than the one we don't." Was the soft reply.

Karin sighed and gently rested her hand on Hana's bony shoulder. "It's not a danger Hana. It's a fact. If we stay here, we will both be dead by next week at the latest. We need to go."

"Right now?" She looked almost hopeful that Karin's response would be negative.

"There's nothing stopping us from going now. Let's face it; the sooner we leave, the sooner we can look for food."

Hana sighed. She smiled ruefully. "I would protest more but I don't have the energy. Which I guess just proves your point."

Karin grinned. "That's the spirit!" They laughed then Karin helped Hana stand. The took the water and the rags, using the rags as makeshift cloaks and slings to hold the jars. And then they were gone.

* * *

They travelled slowly with plenty of breaks. They both were very exhausted, having barely any energy. They found secluded places to camp the night, away from people. They did their best to avoid people at all times.

A few times, Karin left Hana in a hiding spot while she went to more populated areas in search of water or maybe some food. She had been successful a few times with the water and once with the food.

After a week of travelling, they arrived at a small settlement. Hana once again hid while Karin investigated. They weren't really sure which direction the lower districts were, just rumors and general directions they could pick up from people.

Karin returned quickly to Hana carrying another small bundle and a huge smile.

"We're heading in the right direction." She said as she handed the bundle to Hana who opened it, revealing a slightly rotten apple. "I asked and the lady said that if we keep heading this direction we will make it to the next district in another hour or so. And guess which district."

Hana had been enjoying her portion of the apple, a taste that she had never experienced before. "We can't have gone very far."

"Apparently we have. She said that the next district is already the 77th. Can you believe it? At this rate, we'll reach the 75th district next week!" Buoyed by news of their progress and the apple, they continued on, not realizing that a certain white-haired Shinigami captain had stopped just a district away the night before.

* * *

It took them longer than a week to reach the 75th district, but Karin was excited. Even Hana was starting to get excited about the lower districts. Karin continued to steal water and whatever food she found. Most of the time, they went for days between meals. But she always found something, just enough to get them to the next town.

The 79th district was different than the 80th. For one, there were a lot more people. There was some semblance of civilization, even if criminal. And water was actually _sold_. That boggled Karin's mind. Water was never plentiful enough to be used as a bartering tool. If you had water, you kept it.

It made it easier for Karin to steal it however. She was very masterful at stealing without anyone realizing.

While she was walking away, nonchalantly in order to not draw attention to the fact that she had just stolen a jar of clean water, she heard an unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar noise. It was the sound of children laughing.

She looked, and indeed, there was a small group of children running in between the legs of the adults walking. She watched them for a while. They looked happy and playful. For a moment she imagined Hana, living here instead of the 80th. She saw them cut the purse strings of an adult without him noticing. She smiled appreciatively.

The 80th district did not have children. Technically, Karin believed that sometimes children did show up, but if they did, they did not live long. Hana was an oddity in that.

They didn't even bother checking her for something to steal. She was by far the poorest person to walk these streets. People actually gave her quite a bit of space while she walked. She was dirtier than everyone here as well. She didn't mind. No one looked hard at the jar hidden in her rags because of it.

Then she felt something. Something that drained what little energy she had. She suddenly collapsed on the ground hard and awkward. Awkward because she twisted herself to not land on the jar and break it. They had run out of water so this was their only supply.

She didn't know what it was but there was this pressure that was suffocating. It left her weak and trembling. She hated to feel weak.

The people around her didn't seem to feel it at all. Most ignored her, and those who saw her collapse didn't offer to help. Everyone was looking at something a little further down the street.

She knew that whatever it was, the thing that was releasing the pressure. It was getting closer. She wanted to move out of the way, to get away, but she couldn't. She had to focus on breathing.

Finally, when it was unbearable, she heard someone stop near her. She couldn't lift her head but she saw clean white tabi's. She had never seen such clean white cloth. It was oddly mesmerizing.

"Looks like you have a bit of reiatsu, girly." If she had been able to, she would have punched the lights out of the tabi-wearer. ' _Girly_ '? She felt her blood boil.

"Here. Don't die and maybe if you learn to control it a little, you could enter the Shino Academy. Might even become a Shinigami, like me." The tabi-wearer placed a small box tied up with a clean cloth in front of her. She would bet anything that it had just been recently washed, spoiled brat.

And without another word, Tabi-Wearer left. She couldn't move for a while, not until he had gone a distance away. People around her were muttering about the generosity of Shinigami, to give her his lunch, such a poor and pitiful looking thing. She gritted her teeth and forced herself up. It took way too much effort.

She quickly grabbed the gift, aware of the jealous and thieving looks it was getting. Clutching it to her chest, in part to keep it safe, partly to hide the jar of stolen water, she quickly made her way out of the small village, walking as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention. Her limbs felt extremely achy, like she had just run for miles.

She reached the group of boulders where she had left Hana huddled in the shade.

"Hana! Hana!" She called out. She shadows moved, revealing the pale face that squinted in the bright sunlight. Karin hurried over and sat next to her.

She quickly retold her experience in town, pulling out the water and allowing Hana to open the gift. They both gasped as the surveyed the contents of the box.

It was food, fresh and still warm, enough of a variety that they knew that Tabi-Wearer must have been extremely rich.

"It's just like I told you, Karin-chan! You caught the eye of some rich noble and now he's giving you gifts! We've found the district! Can we stay?" Hana looked up at her with pleading eyes.

Karin didn't reply right away. She thought about all she had witnessed in the district. Water for sale. Children laughing. Buildings that looked cared for. People that could walk around near other people and not worry about a quick blade between the ribs.

She shook her head. Hana visibly deflated. "We are closer. But I know that the lower districts are even better. And food still isn't available in these districts. This was almost a fluke." She gestured to their untouched meal. They seemed to want to just appreciate it before tasting it. "Tabi-Wearer wasn't a native here, I could tell."

"So are we going to go to where Tabi-Wearer lives? Maybe he'll give you lots of food!"

Karin smiled as she saw the stars in Hana's eyes. "Maybe. For now, let's eat!"

* * *

They continued to travel. People were friendlier but still avoided too much contact with the pair, mainly because of their physical state. The difference between them and everyone else widened the lower the district.

They found themselves in the 49th district. There was greenery and flowing water and people were happy and healthy and the buildings were solid and well-taken care of. And there was food. It wasn't very much but it was constant.

They decided to stay for a while. Not necessarily forever, but to rest from the constant travelling. Hana was ecstatic. While Karin saw a pleasant and mostly decent place with mostly friendly people and a food supply, Hana saw castles and nobles and flowers and pearls with happy, smiling people everywhere.

Out of habit and safety, the found an abandoned shack on the outskirts of town. It was just a single room and there was a corner of the roof gone, but it was the first semblance of a real home that either of them could remember ever having.

* * *

After a week of staying there, Karin presented Hana with a gift. It was wooden comb. It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was smooth and it was the first one Hana had even seen. She stared at it as if it were made of pure gold.

"I feel like it's too pretty to use. Especially not on _my_ hair." She gently touched the greasy, rats nest on her head. Karin frowned. While she herself never cared about receiving gifts or pretty things, she knew Hana loved that, and she wanted to spoil Hana.

It took a while, but Karin managed to steal another gift. It was an old, tattered kimono with a flower print. She didn't even really consider this as stealing since they had been throwing it away. She kept it a secret from Hana at first.

"I've got another surprise for you." Hana tried to protest but Karin simply led her to the small pond in the woods nearby. She made Hana undress and get in the water. She followed suit, but clothed. She didn't like to feel naked.

She took the comb and carefully combed out Hana's hair, straightening and cleaning it with all the care she could muster. After rinsing out quite a bit of dirt, Karin realized that it was a lighter color than she had originally thought.

After the bath, she presented the kimono. Hana had gasped and moaned in pleasure at the feel of the soft, clean material against her skin. The final touch was to twist back a bit of hair, holding it in place with the comb.

Hana glowed.

"I feel like a Hime-sama!" She crowed, spinning in a circle to show her kimono.

Karin smiled fondly. "You are one. Hana-hime." Hana blushed.

"Do you want to have your hair brushed out?" Karin shook her head.

"People leave me alone if they think I'm too dirty. Besides, if we tried to run it through my hair, it would probably break!" She teased. Hana pouted.

"Come on," Karin motioned for her to follow. She would have slung her arm protectively around her shoulder, but she didn't want her dirty and wet clothes to rub off on Hana's. "Let's go home and eat." Karin had managed to steal some scraps earlier and they finished off the night, laughing and happy, not full but content.

That night, Karin dreamed again of the shadowy figure on the dark throne. Right away she could tell that this dream was different. For one, she heard the wordless noise right away.

Karin strained to hear.

"…Finally."

* * *

Karin's alive! Well, duh she's alive. The description of the districts is relative, which is why those coming from the first district think that the 45th + districts are horrible and those coming from the 80th think that they are a slice of heaven.

I might make them meet again if you review.


	11. Chapter Ten: The Awakening and The Chase

Normally, I try not to update two chapters the same day but I just finished chapter 17 and I'm excited. This is also a special thanks to my reviewers:

 **Akeyama**

 **FlameHead**

 **Guest**

 **silvershark1987**

 **NaturalSam14**

and **Guest**

You guys are the best! This one's for you!

Some things are going to start to happen. I'm not entirely sure how to get to where I want it to which is why the previous chapters have been so slow. But I'm getting there.

 **Disclaimer** : I think that this would be a fun filler episode.

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: The Awakening and The Chase**

Hitsugaya was speeding through the Rukongai districts again. It was coming up on winter time, meaning that it was colder and there was some frost on the ground. Hitsugaya didn't feel the cold. In his mind, he knew it was cold, but it didn't bother him.

He had finished searching all the districts, all the way to the South 80th district. If he cared, he would have been heart-broken and disgusted at the depravity he had witnessed. All he had felt was a cold nothingness. He hadn't found her.

So he had started over. He went through the districts much faster now, thanks in part to his speed and also to having already searched and therefore not having to consciously think about every soul that he felt.

He finished at the 45th district. He had covered 15 districts that night. He still pushed himself to go faster and was rewarded because of it. He had been spending more nights training than not now. He tried not to think about _why_ he was doing that.

He sped home, a little earlier than he normally would have. Due to the intense training and drills his division had been going through for the past few weeks, on top of his own training with Hyourinmaru at night, he had been more tired than usual. He slept a little more each night. Again, he tried not to think about _why_.

He made it home and ate a small meal, quickly showered, and climbed into bed. It wasn't that he was giving up. He hadn't had any real hope to begin with. He was just, tired.

For five years. Five years ago, he had died. And he was tired. He was tired of doing paperwork. He was tired of dealing with his troops. He was tired of pushing off Matsumoto. He was tired of ignoring everyone who tried to talk to him. He was tired of training. He was tired of running through Rukongai.

He was tired of being alive.

He just wanted to give up, to close his eyes and never open them again. To let go of whatever primal instinct kept him breathing, eating, moving.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was standing in his inner world. Others would say it was a frozen wasteland. He however saw peace, quiet, stability, calm.

He looked up and saw his dragon. It hadn't changed in all the years that he had known him. Maybe getting a little longer and bigger but Hitsugaya wasn't sure.

"Why have you called me here?"

"Why do you think?" Was the enigmatic reply.

Unfazed after almost a lifetime of hearing such responses, Hitsugaya pondered the question.

"You thought I was indulging in self-pity."

The dragon nodded his head. "In part. The other part it is to tell you. To warn you."

Hitsugaya listened carefully. His dragon never said things that weren't of utmost importance. He preferred to let Hitsugaya figure things out for himself, trusting him to get to the correct conclusion at his own speed.

"The first is that something is coming. Something as old as I. And you must be prepared. You have not been training as diligently as you need to be. There is so much more that you have left to learn, to master."

Hitsugaya took the reprimand in his stride and nodded. He _had_ been training less.

"The second is …motivation."

He waited. If his dragon had been able to, he would have sworn that it gave a small smile.

"She's waking up."

* * *

Hitsugaya opened his eyes. It was morning. Late morning. The sun was shining through his windows. There was a banging on his door. _Really_ late morning.

"Taicho? Taicho are you in there? Is everything okay? Taicho?" It was Matsumoto. She sounded nervous. Hitsugaya looked at the clock. It was past ten. He sat up and stretched. He couldn't remember the last time he had truly slept. No wonder he had slept late.

He got up and somewhat groggily headed to his door. Matsumoto sounded more frantic.

"Taicho? Taicho, I'm coming in-"

She was cut off by the door flinging open.

"Taicho!" She looked shocked at his appearance. He only had pajama bottoms on. It was usually too hot for him to be fully clothed.

"Do you need something?" He asked with an eyebrow raised. She was flabbergasted for a moment. Finally, she closed her mouth and shook her head.

"Er, no taicho. I was just worried about you. You were really late and You are never late."

"It would be hard to tell whether I'm late or not since you arrive even later. It's more accurate to say that I am never later than you."

Her eyes widened at his response. He didn't know why. It wasn't anything particularly harsh, nothing that she didn't know or that he hadn't said before.

She was silent, her jaw dropped again. He was starting to get annoyed.

"Do you need anything else? As you have pointed out, it is late and I still have to get ready. If you don't have anything of importance to say than I suggest that you go back to the offices and oversee the training. We have team drills today and obviously I'm going to be late."

She snapped to attention, a broad grin spreading across her face. "Yes, taicho!" He didn't wait for her to leave, choosing instead to close the door in her face.

* * *

Most of the tenth division was on the training field by the time Hitsugaya arrived, some thirty minutes later. He decided to take his time getting ready. Meaning he actually brushed his hair. It was one of his childish traits. He just never got into the habit of brushing it. It didn't change much about it. His hair was still gravity-defying and oddly sharp. It just had a …cleaner look about it. More neat. Like controlled chaos.

He stood by the entrance, watching Matsumoto supervise the team drills. It was part of the training plan. They decided to capitalize on the team structures. Right now, they were working on individual teams coordinating attacks on opposing teams. They had turned it into a game of sorts, a strip of cloth tied to a post behind each team. The goal was to capture the cloth and bring it over to their own side without losing their own cloth.

After a few minutes, he was struck by a whim. He strode up to Matsumoto, who was laughing at one of the squad members who had somehow managed to trip over a rock, taking down two other Shinigami.

"Matsumoto."

She quickly stopped laughing and addressed him. Her eyes glanced at his hair and she smiled for some reason. "Taicho." She nodded her head.

"Gather all the Shinigami. We're going to do something a little different for today's training."

"Yes!" She quickly called a halt on the training, summoning all the Shinigami. Hitsugaya saw about 150 members overall. He figured the rest were doing other things like paperwork or guard duty or something.

They stood in block formation, every posture perfect. He wasn't sure why they were suddenly so strict about themselves. He never let them relax too much before but for the past couple of months, they were especially formal.

"We are going to do today's training a little differently. More often than not, when Soul Society is infiltrated, it's individuals, not whole armies. Take Kurosaki-san and his friends as an example." Matsumoto gasped lightly for some reason. "There were just the five of them and they had split up when they entered. One of the reasons it was so difficult for us to stop them was because we were unprepared for a single invader. While we should always be on alert against large groups, it's harder to catch a single person."

He looked at the faces of the Shinigami. Most seemed to be accepting his words, some with small, rueful smiles as they remembered the fateful day when Soul Society had first been breached in decades by a handful of humans.

"Today, all of you are going to find and capture a single enemy. All of Soul Society is the training field."

There was a ripple of excitement and slight apprehension. Glances were thrown.

"In ten minutes, an invader will come into Soul Society and make their way to the soutaicho. You must stop him at whatever cost." He paused and thought for a moment. "Although, if you cause excessive damage it will be coming out of your personal budget, for as long as it takes to pay it back. And don't interfere with the other squads."

There was silence as they all contemplated this new training exercise. Finally, it was Matsumoto who asked what they were all thinking.

"Taicho, who will be the invader?"

If he was the type to smile, he would have. As it was, there was a definite hint of perverse glee in is voice as he answered.

"Me."

* * *

Nine minutes later, Hitsugaya was leaning casually against the outer wall of Soul Society, just outside the west White Road Gate. The same gate that Ichigo had originally tried to enter before he found the alternate route of cannonballing himself through the sky in an orb of reiatsu.

That was thirteen years ago, he thought. Seems like it was longer. Probably because of all the wars and conflicts in between.

"Hitsugaya-taicho? What are you doing here?"

It was captain Hirako Shinji, the somewhat recently restored captain of the fifth division. His overly wide smile was slightly confused.

"Training."

Hirako blinked, obviously waiting for further explanation. Before today, Hitsugaya would have ignored the silent request. But today was different.

"My division needs experience on apprehending a single invader. Past experience has proven that it is a major flaw in Soul Society's defense." He pushed himself off of the wall and walked up to the open doorway. "They have to stop me before I reach the soutaicho."

Hirako blinked again, his smile widening even more. "Sounds like fun." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"It's training."

"Yeah, but it's fun training." He countered. "Sounds like a really good idea. Can my division join? When are you starting?"

"Now." And without another word, Hitsugaya disappeared.

* * *

Normally, Hitsugaya could have crossed the entire city within a few minutes but that would have defeated the purpose of this exercise. Instead he went a slow, leisurely pace, not even using shunpo.

He rounded a corner and was met with a team of his squad members. He paused, allowing them to see him. They immediately jumped at him, swords drawn.

Time for some training.

With a fluidity that was almost too beautiful to watch, he slid through the Shinigami, using his bare hands to make visible moves that attacked their weakest points, individually and as a team. Within minutes, all of them had been defeated, not knocked out, just shoved down for a few stunned seconds, their weapons clattering harmlessly away from them.

Hitsugaya turned his head to raise a brow at them before hurrying on, leaving them to nurse their bruises and egos.

This pattern continued for the next few hours. Sometimes a Shinigami got in a lucky swing that he had to dodge before he effortlessly disarmed them. A couple of times, he led them on a quick chase, before defeating them.

Their plan was rather obvious. The weaker teams were spread out along the edges since they didn't know from which direction he would come from. The stronger teams positioned themselves closer to the first division headquarters, allowing him to come to them.

Not that it was any harder to disarm and defeat the 'stronger' teams. His officers looked ashamed at their quick defeat. Once, Hitsugaya stopped at a stall to snack. No reason to make himself hungry during the exercise. While he was eating, more officers asked him what his division was doing, to which he explained the exercise.

* * *

Ukitake walked up during one of the small tussles with a team. After watching Hitsugaya effortlessly throw his 16th seat down the path, he spoke up.

"Hitsugaya-kun. I'm just wondering here, but what exactly are you doing."

"Training." Was the only reply as yet another Shinigami was forced to drop his Zanpakutou and went sailing past.

"I see. And what exactly is the point of this exercise?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as two Shinigami tried to rush him at the same time, only to run into each other as Hitsugaya simply stepped out of the way, not even looking at them.

"I'm an invader. They have to stop me from reaching the soutaicho." Ukitake nodded in understanding.

"And how are they doing so far?" Hitsugaya's response was a swift kick to another officer, sending him flying into the wall, sliding down, dazed.

Ukitake smiled as they both surveyed the mostly unconscious troops. "To be fair, you are an exceptionally difficult adversary." Hitsugaya shrugged.

"They'll just have to get better."

"Indeed." After a brief pause, he asked, "Are you going to be making this a regular thing. It looks like they need the experience."

Hitsugaya shrugged again. "Possibly."

"Well, if you do, I think I would like to have my own division join in. they need similar training and I don't think I would be up to the chase."

Hitsugaya glanced at the white-haired man. Ukitake was smiling happily. For someone so old and experienced, his smiles sure came readily.

"I don't see why not." He finally replied. "Just as long as they don't hinder my own division."

Ukitake laughed. "I think you are doing an excellent job of that yourself. Your almost there. Say hi to Kyouraku for me."

Hitsugaya nodded and ran towards the first division barracks.

* * *

"Ukitake-taicho sends his greetings."

Hitsugaya entered the soutaicho's office, not bothering to knock. Kyouraku looked up from his paperwork with a raised brow.

"That's kind of you to deliver the message, Hitsugaya-kun. But is that all you came here to say?"

"I didn't come here to say anything. I was training with my division. They were supposed to stop me from reaching you."

Kyouraku looked out the door at the three fallen Shinigami that were currently being attended to by some of his own officers.

"That explains why they were waiting in the office today. They seemed a little on edge." He set down his pen and clasped his hands together. "Well, they seemed to have failed their objective." He said with a grin. "Speaking of which, how is the training going?"

"Well. They have a lot to work on but they are improving."

Kyouraku tilted his head thoughtfully. "You seem to be in a good mood today, Hitsugaya-kun. Any reason in particular?"

Hitsugaya had been heading out the office, no doubt to explain to his troops exactly how they had all been defeated. He paused his back still to Kyouraku.

"I received some good news."

"Oh?"

Hitsugaya nodded but didn't explain, simply walked back out, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

This is the turning point for him. I was tired of him being in a funk. I prefer a happy Toushirou. Well, a less miserable, robotic Toushirou.

Reviews make him even happier! And me. They make me happy too.


	12. Chapter Eleven: The Chase and Awakening

I like the him/her set up I've got going on. I think I'll keep it. This chapter is much shorter than my other chapters.

 **Disclaimer** : Karin would totally be more powerful than Ichigo. She would have more control.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Chase and The Awakening**

Karin watched her prey carefully. She was completely still. A butterfly fluttered past, not even realizing that a fully grown person was sitting in the bush it was investigating.

Her prey was bustling about, oblivious of the hidden eyes watching their every move. They bent down and grabbed another cloth from the old woven basket. After a brief shake to let loose some of the water, the cloth was hung up on a wire, two small clips keeping it from falling. The process was repeated a little further down the line.

It was one of the rare sunny days, before winter could fully take hold and the Prey was taking advantage of one of the last opportunities to have clean clothes until next spring.

Karin was taking advantage of one of the last opportunities to find blankets and proper clothes until next spring.

Her fingers and toes were decidedly numb but she ignored that. She had been cold longer than just about anyone else. The odd thing was that Hana claimed that she was always warmer than anyone else and so liked to cuddle at night.

The basket empty, the Prey walked back into the quaint house. It was just her and her husband. Apparently birth rates among souls was less than a hundredth of a percent. Nobles had an almost 20 percent of getting pregnant. When Karin had asked why, no one had been able to answer her.

She waited for ten more minutes, the cold creeping its way into her very bones. She refused to budge an inch. Every few minutes she could see the face of her Prey peeking out the window, making sure her laundry was fine. After about ten minutes, the face appeared less and less. After another 5 full minutes between peeks, Karin carefully crept out of the bush, startling the butterfly that had landed on a winter flower but not much else.

Keeping to shadows as best she could she quickly made her way across the yard much the way a cat would. She couldn't stand up for fear of being seen.

She arrived at the line. There were two rows and Karin was behind the second one, the row of blankets and clothes offering protection from the house. She carefully stood up, having to reach up on her tip-toes to carefully unclip a medium sized blanket, rolling it up as she pulled it off to prevent it from touching the ground.

She moved over to a plain, blue and green checkered kimono. It was one of the larger ones, no doubt the husbands. She unclipped and rolled it up as well. As soon as both her prizes were secured in her arms, she darted away. No time for sneaking, even if she could with her arms laden with damp material.

Just as she was about to dive back into the trees, she heard a feminine shout. She quickly sped up, whipping around a branch and disappearing in the dark woods.

She kept up her speed until she neared her own home. She rounded the last row of trees and saw it, a thin pillar of smoke rising from the hole in the roof. She allowed a moment to take in the view with a smile on her face.

Hana came around the side of the house, a bundle of twigs in her arms. She smiled broadly when she noticed Karin and her prize.

"Karin-chan!"

They both entered the house, Hana putting the sticks down on the growing mound of firewood they had been collecting for a while now. It was located in the opposite corner of the fire since they didn't want any stray sparks to send them both to a very warm death.

Karin set the blanket and kimono down on their bed. With the access to water, they had attempted to clean the rags they had brought with them. Some of them had actually disintegrated when the hit the water and even more hadn't made it past the scrubbing. They made up for by nicking whatever material they could from their new district. Because of this, their bed actually resembled a bed. The blanket was a huge find and Hana congratulated Karin on it.

"What's with the kimono? Is it for you?" Karin still refused to change out of the rags she had brought from the 80th district. She opted to just clean them instead. People in town had actually commented to her about their state, particularly how they were very, very short, showing off her legs. Karin claimed that she liked the freedom.

"Nah. It just looked like another layer against the cold. It's big enough to cover us both." They both laughed. Hana quieted first and looked thoughtful and a little sad.

"What's wrong?"

She hesitated before speaking. "It's just, we're in a new district now. A much nicer one. And there's much more to go around. We actually have a store of food." They had been storing all they could find, knowing that they would need it to last the winter.

"And?" Karin raised a brow, not sure what she was saying. Hana blushed and didn't look her in the eye.

"I was just wondering if maybe we should try to get things through alternate means. You know, work for stuff, not steal it."

Karin looked at her like she had grown another head.

"…Why?" She finally asked, incredulous.

Hana blushed a deeper red. "These people are nice. It's not like back in the 80th where they would kill you as soon as they saw you. I bet we could both find decent work. Maybe enough to actually buy fresh food and the like."

Karin blinked. Clearly Hana's good nature had been guilting her for a while now. Karin saw nothing wrong with taking what they needed. They weren't greedy. She made sure she only took what they needed and only from people that could spare a little. Still, Hana obviously felt very bad about the whole thing.

She gave a huge sigh. "Fine." Hana looked up with surprise and a huge smile on her face. "We'll look for work come spring. I'm not doing this whole working thing in the winter." She said sternly.

Hana giggled. "Yeah, wouldn't want you to have to wear a long kimono or anything."

"Exactly."

* * *

"Working, eh? Better watch out, she's making you into a decent person. Before you realize, you're going to be handing out candy to kids and kissing babies."

She was dreaming again. The dark figure on the throne was speaking. The stars where shining brightly but still hazy when Karin tried to look at them. The glow from the lava illuminated Karin and the outline of the speaking figure.

The figure actually spoke a lot more now. The conversation was usually casual. Ever since she had heard that first word all those night ago. It was actually impossible to get her to shut up now.

"There's nothing wrong with working." Karin defended, her arms crossed. "No one chases after you when you get things the honest way."

"But I thought the whole point was to be chased."

Karin looked confused. "Why would I want to be chased?" She asked.

The figure smiled. From the glow, Karin could faintly make out the dark red lips.

"Every girl wants to be chased."

"That's ridiculous. And it's the wrong chasing." Karin waved it off.

"Maybe because the one you want to chase you hasn't arrived yet."

Karin scoffed. "You've been listening to Hana way too much. I'm not some helpless princess locked in some mansion somewhere. I'm not waiting for my warrior to come running in and rescue me."

"Of course not! We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much!" The outburst startled Karin.

"We?"

"Oops. My bad." The figure didn't sound apologetic at all.

"You know," Karin took a few step closer, watching carefully for the ground to open up and stop her. "We talk a lot. But I don't know who you are. I can't even see your face. And these dreams are downright weird. For one, I know I'm dreaming." Karin edged her way closer. "For another, I usually remember them. Not very well, but I know I'm having them when I'm awake." The figure just watched as she crept closer. "And again, you reference things that happen during the day like you were watching. And you say other weird things. Like you are a part of what's going on but not." Closer now. Karin could almost make out the face. It was definitely human-like.

She reached out to touch her. "Who-"

* * *

"Karin-chan! Karin! Wake up! Fire!"

Karin was jerked awake. Disoriented at first, she saw that there was indeed a fire. Some of the firewood they had collected was on fire. Karin jumped up and grabbed the twigs, pulling them quickly off of the stack. She quickly tossed them into the fireplace in the opposite corner. The fire had died down during the night, becoming no more than a smoldering pit.

She repeated this process until any trace of a fire was located in the pit, safe and controlled. The fire was quite large, and carefully Karin pulled out some of the outlying sticks, ones that weren't burning as much as the rest. She carefully put them out, laying them out so they weren't touching anything else so they could safely cool.

The rest of the twigs were sacrificed to their odd midnight fire, crackling away. Karin wiped her sweating brow, both from the heat and the adrenaline, unaware of the streak of soot that she dragged across.

Hana had been mostly useless but Karin didn't blame her. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she hadn't frozen with panic.

"Are you okay?" Hana nodded mutely, clutching the blanket a little too tightly.

"What happened?" She whispered nervously.

"That's what I want to know." Karin replied grimly. "It couldn't have come from this fire since there wasn't really any fire before now. Did you see or hear anything?" Hana shook her head.

"No. I woke up because I smelled smoke." Karin frowned. She had too, now that she thought about it. She had just assumed it had been part of her dream.

"Well, whatever happened, it's over now. We'll just have to collect more wood tomorrow. Go back to sleep, Hana. I'll stay awake to watch the fire. Make sure nothing else happens."

Eventually Hana did fall back asleep. Karin stayed up, staring into the fire. A fire that, for some unfathomable reason, she felt like she was responsible for starting.

* * *

So, super short chapter but not much is happening with Karin right now. Next chapter is back to Toushirou. There will be some time skip because, let's face it, we're just waiting for them to find each other. Reviews will make that happen sooner!


	13. Chapter Twelve: Just a Feeling

Hitsugaya's side again. A little passing in season and set up. I realize now that I'm a really slow writer. Not that I write slow but that I have little action. I don't know why I feel the need to drag you on. I'm weird like that.

A/N: I just finished chapter 18 and I felt giddy and excited so I'm awarding you with another chapter. Special thanks to those that have reviewed:

 **Guest** all five reviews! I don't know if it's one person 5 times or 5 people with 1 each or some other combinations, but thanks!

 **Anahissa** I want them to meet again too. And I'm one chapter away from them actually having a conversation with each other. (I'm fangirling over my own story right now.)

 **Alteas08** Thank you so much for the compliment! It really means a lot to me! And your English was just fine!

 **NaturalSam14** Yeah, Karin just isn't complete without Yuzu so Hana was a quick solution. I imagine her like a squirrel. Cute and fluffy. Thank you for the compliments!

 **silvershark1987** No, Toushirou wasn't Tabi-wearer. But I'm bringing Tabi-wearer back later. Just for funsies. ;) I will try to watch out for spelling but sometimes I'm thinking faster than I'm typing. Feel free to point out anything else I can improve on!

 **FlameHead** Thank you! I love drama but I don't know how well I write about it. (I mean, I wrote a whole chapter about paperwork)

 **akeyama** I was super depressed after writing that chapter. It made me want to cry too.

You guys are the best. I love you so much.

 **Disclaimer** : I ate a cookie today. I was too poor to eat more than one. Obviously I own nothing of value.

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Just a Feeling**

It was snowing. Not light flurries that inspired snowball fights and snow forts and snowmen. Not the kind that you read about in the stories as people curl up next to fires with cups of hot cocoa.

No, this was a full on snowstorm, the wimpier people calling it a blizzard. The kind that, if someone was forced to be in it for even a second, they would be frozen and soaking and miserable.

Hitsugaya Toushiro was sitting calmly at his desk, signing a few more papers acknowledging the treatment of some of his squad members by the fourth division. The last Invader exercise (as the Shinigami were now calling it) had been harder for the combined divisions than any of the previous ones. Almost all divisions now joined in on the exercise, a prize had been offered to anyone that could stop Hitsugaya (unofficially of course). Sometimes, he didn't fight the Shinigami, just snuck past or shunpoed past to see if they could spot him. They never did. Not only that, but it had been snowing then too. Nothing like today, but the cold had slowed and weakened everyone down while giving Hitsugaya energy and speed.

A few of the injuries had been the result of slipping on ice, absolutely nothing to do with Hitsugaya or the exercise at all.

He signed and stamped the last sheet, placing it in the out box before stretching. It was a slow day, no one really willing to go out in the weather just to deliver paperwork. Hitsugaya didn't mind. The weather was probably a little extreme, even for his tastes but something about blizzards calmed him. Not that he was feeling particularly stressed or anything. Just …restless.

Something deep within him had been making him more restless than he had been in over 5 years now. Hyourinmaru was feeling it to, a bubbling inside that made Hitsugaya antsy and anxious, unsure of the cause.

He felt… excited. Like something big was going to happen, really soon. Something good. Or bad. He was sure yet.

The door to his office opened and Matsumoto entered, wearing a thick winter coat with a fur lining.

"Taicho~!" She frowned as she rubbed her arms. "It's way too cold in here!"

He raised a brow. "Is it?" He honestly hadn't noticed. He hadn't felt the need for a jacket or anything. Not that he usually did, mind you.

"Yes!" She shouted, aggravated. "Look! You can see your breath!" She gave a huff and pointed to the visible white cloud that appeared. Now he was surprised. He was usually conscious enough of the weather to tell when he needed to raise the temperature for other's sakes. And it wasn't like he was immune to the cold. He usually was at least _aware_ of it long before it got _that_ cold.

"I hadn't noticed. The rest of the tenth division is sufficiently warmed?" It wouldn't do to have all his soldiers huddled in corners trying to get warm.

She nodded. "Everywhere else is mostly fine. It's just in here! Look! I had to get a coat just to open the door! I'm surprised there's not frost-" Her rant was cut off as she noticed that there was in fact frost creeping on the wall that led outside. She glared at her taicho, who had the decency to know that he should have realized how cold it was. She had been complaining about the temperature of his office for a while now and for the last few days refused to come inside, too cold.

"I know that you aren't as affected as the rest of us, but you're not immune!" She frowned reprovingly at him. "You'll get sick if you continue to work in this temperature." He would have rolled his eyes. He had honestly never gotten sick before in his life. At least, in living memory. It was odd because cold temperatures didn't actually make people sick so his resistance to the cold couldn't have been what caused his good health.

"The people don't get sick from the cold weather, even if it's called a 'cold.' That's just a myth." Matsumoto frowned at his argument.

"Regardless. You should be more aware next time." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously there's no need. It doesn't affect me apparently and it keeps the workload light. I would have thought that you of all people would appreciate that." He stood and piled some paperwork into a special case that was weather resistant for days such as this.

"You can't be planning on going out?" Her eyes widened in surprise. "The blizzard-"

"It's just a snowstorm, Matsumoto. We've travelled in worse. And I might as well. No one else can or will. Make sure that the Shinigami aren't just lying about. When I come back, I expect them all to be working or training. Or meditating with their Zanpakutou, at the very least." He added as an afterthought.

"Wait!" Matsumoto called out to him before he exited his own private exit. It went out into his private garden but was an effective exit. He turned back.

"At least take a coat if you are going outside." She rolled her own eyes, going to the closet and rummaging around for his usual coat. She pulled it out and handed it to him. He raised it up and probably would have put it on but noticed something.

"Matsumoto. It's too small now." She gasped as she took it from him and held it out to his torso to measure. It was indeed too small. It had probably stopped fitting him a good three years ago. Apparently it had been a while since he had felt the need to wear a coat. She looked up into his eyes, a strange expression of …something in her eyes. Nostalgia?

"I don't know if you have a bigger coat in your closet." She continued to look but it was evident that he was indeed lacking in any serious winter wear. She pouted, a hand on her hip. "How did we not notice before? We'll have to get you a coat when the weather lets up. You really should have a winter coat."

He headed for the exit again. "I don't see why." He said dryly. "If we haven't noticed I outgrew my last coat, it's a good indicator that I don't need one."

"You do need one! You're just stubborn!" Hitsugaya ignored her.

"I'll be at the 7th and then the 5th if you need me." Matsumoto braced herself against the sudden cold and wind that swept in the room when he opened the door. Then he was gone, the snow that had been blown in falling to the floor in gentle flurries.

She lifted up the outgrown coat that she was still holding. Her expression softened. He was a man now. Somewhere along the way, without her noticing, he had grown up. It had hit her when she realized just how much bigger than the coat he was. She had noticed his height before, but something about the jacket had hit her.

Perhaps it was because he had had it for so long. She could remember so many memories where he had been wearing that coat. So many birthdays she had forced him to celebrate. She remembered when he had first gotten it. It was back when he had first been made captain. She had gotten it because he was starting to outgrow his old one but she had gotten it way too big. He had continued to wear it, probably hoping to grow into it.

She sighed, her breath coming out in a white puff of crystalized air, before hanging it up and putting it back in the closet. She felt like her child had grown up. She needed a drink.

* * *

Hitsugaya quickly shunpoed through storm, moving so fast that he didn't even register the wind before he was off again. He arrived at the 7th division entrance and entered. The door was shut but it was most likely to keep the weather out rather than other Shinigami.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" A shocked Iba-fukutaicho stopped on his way to stare at the slightly snow-covered captain, currently dripping on to the tatami mat.

"Iba-fukutaicho." Hitsugaya nodded, lifting the case containing paperwork. "I just had some forms to deliver."

"But- the weather-"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Doesn't bother me." Iba took the case thoughtfully. "Wonderful! We have some forms for you as well." He paused, glancing at the stone-face captain. Hesitantly he spoke up, obviously nervous to be asking. "Are you- are you going to make deliveries to any other divisions?"

Hitsugaya blinked. He wasn't called a genius for nothing. "I was planning on going to the 5th division after this. Do you have any paperwork for any other division?"

Iba, relieved that he offered, promptly loaded Hitsugaya up with forms for not only the 5th division, but the 4th, 3rd, and 13th. In minutes, Hitsugaya was off. When he reached the 5th, the process was repeated, with Hirako-taicho asking him to make deliveries for them.

"I would send my own officers but they can't move through this weather like you can. Without even a coat." He added with a surprised tilt of his head.

Again, Hitsugaya shrugged and replied, "Doesn't bother me."

Hirako simply raised an eyebrow but refrained from saying anything.

Hitsugaya's delivery, which should have been over after a quick trip to two divisions became an all-day activity as he ended up visiting every single division, all of them utilizing the helpful captain who was apparently immune to the weather that left everyone else scurrying inside.

"Even _I'm_ cold! And my bankai leaves me at below negative temperatures!" was Rukia's comment when he arrived at the 13th division.

* * *

At the end of the day, Hitsugaya was making his way back to his own division. The storm had let up a little, making it a little bit easier to see. As he landed on the roof of a building, he paused before shunpoing further.

He gazed through the wind-tossed snow towards the East, not feeling the weather at all.

He had felt something. He couldn't place it. But Hyourinmaru had perked up in his spiritual world, suddenly restless. There was an odd twinge in his chest, like someone had just prodded his heart.

Seeing and sensing nothing, Hitsugaya continued back to his office to lock it up for the day before heading home. Except he wouldn't head home. He suddenly had a lot of energy to burn even though he had spent the last few hours shunpoing all around Seireitei as fast as he could.

When Hitsugaya stood in the empty dojo, holding out Hyourinmaru in preparation of sword training, he was surprised to hear an almost purr-like growl coming from his Zanpakutou.

Something making you pleased? Hitsugaya mentally asked.

He could feel Hyourinmaru's smile.

Soon, he purred.

* * *

The weeks passed quickly. The winter was a cold one. Twice more, Hitsugaya had felt the strange heart-prodding. Once in while he was sitting at his desk, doing paperwork, and once in the middle of an Invader exercise. The last one had caused him to pause, distracted, leaving him open for an unseated Shinigami to tackle him.

Or at least to jump on him in an attempt to bring him down. He had been so shocked that he had managed to grab a hold of Hitsugaya that he had almost let go as if he had done something wrong.

A quick jab to the forehead had knocked him unconscious for several hours but he had been rewarded by having free sake at a celebration that night.

Currently, Hitsugaya was sitting at his desk (surprise, surprise) when he paused in his robotic signing and filing. The paper he was holding was a sign-up for the guest officer that would visit the graduating Academy class sometime during the Spring semester. It was still the winter semester but the Academy always sent out the request early to try to get a high-ranked officer to accept, so they wouldn't have the excuse of not having a free schedule.

Normally, the request was ignored until the soutaicho assigned a division to send someone (which usually ended up being some low seated officer who drew the short straw). The 10th division hadn't been assigned for years.

He wasn't sure why but he felt like he should sign up. He had never wanted to before. He actually hated going. He had always been the shortest in the room even though he was the strongest and the bratty and immature students always exclaimed at how 'cute' he was (they had assumed he was out of earshot) or worse, the scarily forward girls that asked him personal questions that he considered highly inappropriate but always left him blushing to his great shame.

Because of all this, he really had no idea why all of a sudden he saw his hand go down and sign up his name as the one that would personally be the special speaker. He blinked as he watched his other hand place the form in the out box, as if the matter was sealed.

For a minute, he almost snatched the form back out but then Hyourinmaru spoke up.

Leave it master. The deep growl reverberated in Hitsugaya's mind.

Why? Hitsugaya asked, confused.

The ancient dragon shrugged. I just feel like you should go. Don't you feel so?

Not being able to argue, Hitsugaya simply picked up another form.

* * *

Golly, I wonder why he could possibly feel like he needs to visit the Academy?

Review and you just might find out! (as if you couldn't guess)


	14. Chapter Thirteen: The Decision

Writing Karin's side is boring to me. Review and tell me if you want more of her side, otherwise, expect short chapters like this until things pick up.

 **Disclaimer** : Nope.

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen: The Decision**

The winter had been downright brutal. According to Karin.

According to Hana, it had been one of the warmer ones. Or maybe it was just warmer because they had an actual house with four walls and a mostly covered roof.

There had been three more incidents with fire.

The first had been during a particularly bad snowstorm. It had been so cold and windy, snow coming in from the hole in the roof that the fire was having trouble staying lit. Karina and Hana had both struggled to keep the fire going all day. As it was nearing night, Karin, exhausted and frustrated and glared at the struggling fire before angrily throwing a few more sticks onto it.

There had been a small explosion that caused Karin to gasp and stumble backwards to avoid getting burned and Hana to scream in surprise and instinctively duck her head.

Karin had thankfully not been burned but her already disintegrating clothes had been severely damaged, forcing her to finally get rid of them in favor of one of the yukatas that Karin had stolen for Hana. It was a simple black, grey, and red print yukata. It was still short, showing plenty of leg but for some reason, even in this weather, Karin felt comfortable that way. Of course, the bareness of her legs meant she spend a lot of time underneath their blanket.

The second time had been when Karin had been leaning against the wall of their home, Hana preparing their day's portion of water and food, snuggled warmly in the blanket. Her mind had wandered until she started thinking about the dreams that she was having almost nightly now. She had blinked and somehow found herself in the strange dream.

Thinking that she must have dozed off she had marched straight up to the throne. The figure was a little easier to make out, much of the steam that usually blurred Karin's perspective had cleared up.

"Who are you?" Karin had demanded.

The figure smiled. She opened her blood-red lips and Karin could have sworn she was speaking but for the life of her all she heard was the suddenly extremely loud hiss coming from a crack in the ground releasing steam.

"What?" Karin tried to shout over the sudden noise. The mouth kept moving but the noise was just getting louder and louder.

Suddenly Karin was jerked back into reality by Hana, who had shouted fire again, and once again, their supply of firewood had a few twigs that were alight.

The last time had been Karin had been outside, her feet freezing in the fallen snow as she ran quickly through the forest. They needed more firewood seeing as their supply kept dwindling thanks to spontaneous combustion apparently.

Karin was grabbing any and all fallen or easily broken off branches and twigs that she could while she ran, not wanting to stop for fear of completely freezing her already frozen toes.

She had tripped on a hidden root and fallen face-first into a snowdrift. Great, now it's not just my feet but all of me that's frozen and I'm wet on top of it. Angry and just wanting to be warm she had quickly scrambled to her feet only to jump back in fright and fall again, this time on her rear. An exposed twig sticking up above the snow had for some reason got aflame. It soon sputtered out due to the wetness of the stick but it had left Karin shocked and scared. She had booked it back to the house, quickly dumping the collected sticks in the middle of the floor to be dried and shivering over their fire in an attempt to warm herself back up, studiously ignoring what just happened.

* * *

Now, Karin was sitting in front of the fire, a look of deep concentration on her face. It was Hana's turn to go and collect firewood, meaning that Karin was alone in the house until she got back.

Karin had heard of reiatsu and Shinigami and the Gotei 13. The Tabi-Wearer had even said that she had a fair amount of reiatsu. She knew from listening in to the people in the market that souls with strong enough reiatsu and a fair amount of control could get into the Shino Academy, to train to become a full-fledged Shinigami and member of the Gotei 13.

Karin lifted her hand in front of her face. She had reiatsu. She knew she did. Enough to be noticed by the passing Tabi-Wearer. But how do you control it?

As she concentrated, she suddenly found herself in her dreamland again.

"What's going on?" She demanded. "Why am I here? I didn't fall asleep!"

"No, you didn't." The figure unhelpfully answered, ignoring the actual questions.

"Why am I here?" Karin asked again, stepping a little closer to the throne.

"Because you asked. And I can help."

Karin looked confused. "Asked? Help with what?"

"You wanted to know how to control your reiatsu. I can help."

Karin perked up. "Really? How?"

"Listen carefully…"

Karin opened her eyes and saw a glowing ball of pure reiatsu in her hand. Surprised, she yelped and the ball disintegrated before her eyes. Amazed she checked her hand for any damages. There were none. The ball of energy had warmed her cold fingers and left a slight tingling feeling in her hand.

Karin's eyes lit up with excitement as she concentrated again, trying to remember what the figure had said. Slowly, she saw tiny specks of reishi gather in her hand and start to form a small and very unsteady ball. After just a few seconds, she had to stop concentrating. She felt tired and hungry. For the next 30 minutes while Hana was gone, Karin practiced.

When Hana had come home with an armload of damp sticks, Karin had been quick to share with her all that had transpired. Hana's eyes widened in shock.

"You can control your reiatsu?" Her tone was one of amazement.

Karin nodded happily. "Not very well and it's tiring and I feel even hungrier than normal afterwards but watch." Her brows furrowed in concentration as she stared almost angrily at her raised palm. Slowly, the reishi gathered in her palm, producing a slightly larger but just as wobbily ball of swirling reiatsu for a few seconds before Karin had to drop it, letting it vanish.

Hana had praised Karin for the rest of the night.

As they laid in bed, Hana snuggling into Karin for warmth, Karin whispered her plan.

"When the snow melts, I'm going to see if I can enroll into the Academy."

Hana raised her head to look at Karin in surprise. "You want to be a Shinigami?"

Karin shrugged, a blush forming on her surprisingly tanned cheeks. "I don't know. But if I do become a Shinigami, it will mean that we'll have better living conditions. And it will be a job where I can get money. I can send it to you so you can buy pretty yukatas and food and water all you want."

"But," Hana frowned. "You'll be Seireitei and I'll be here. I'll be so lonely when you're gone."

Karin stroked her hair. "It's no garuntee that I'll get in in the first place. But if I do, I'll be sure to visit often and bring you presents. And maybe you can move closer in one of the nearby districts so I can visit you even more often. Or you can visit me!"

Hana buried her face in Karin's shoulder and squeezed her tightly.

"…You'll get in." Hana's voice was muffled. She raised her head to look Karin in the eye, a surprisingly stern expression on her normally gentle face. "And when you do, I expect to hear all about how you become the greatest Shinigami that ever lived. And when people talk about you, I'll get to say, 'that's my sister'."

They both grinned and hugged tightly.

"Since Hime-sama has ordered it, her humble servant must obey." Karin teased. They laughed.

* * *

Super short chapter because nothing is happening with Karin and her side of the story kind of bores me. But there you have it. Karin will be attempting to enroll in the Academy in the Spring. Will this be where the poor lovers are finally reunited? Review and find out!


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Answers

I'm a horrible student. A lot of the time, I'm in my class writing. The professors can get on us for having laptops and writing on them since so many people take notes electronically now. I feel like a rebel. It's an English class. I'm writing a story. It's the same topic.

 **Disclaimer** : I would not be sitting in class writing fanfiction if I owned bleach.

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen: Answers**

The only person that was sad to see winter leave to be replaced by green grass, colorful flowers, and warmer weather was Hitsugaya. Well, sad being relative since he had stopped really feeling emotions over 5 years now. Although, lately, it almost seemed like he was getting back to his usual self. Almost.

The point of the matter was, now it was springtime, and people were happy and excited and the Invader exercise had been resumed to its once a month basis (not even Hitsugaya made his troops go out in the middle of the winter simply because he knew that it would hinder more than help their training.) and just like any new year/season, the taichos were all in a meeting.

Hitsugaya was bored. He was always bored at these meetings. Kyouraku-soutaicho was not as much of a stickler for the supposed monthly meetings that his predecessor made sure they had, especially since they hadn't had any major conflict since the Thousand-year Blood War.

This meeting was just a spring cleaning kind of meeting, yearly reports being …reported and Hollow activity being confirmed. Yada-yada. Hitsugaya stifled a yawn. He thought that Ukitake-taicho was extremely lucky, to be able use his sickness to get out of meetings like this. Hitsugaya knew that today was one of his good days because he had passed Ukitake on his way to the meeting. He had been sitting in his garden, drinking tea and reading a book.

Kuchiki Rukia had been sent in his stead. Everyone accepted the fact that she ran 95% of the 13th division. When Ukitake inevitably succumbed to his sickness or some other tragedy, she was basically a shoe in for captain, having attained her bankai during the War.

"-with a little more diligence. There haven't been any serious incidents but the citizens of Rukongai are a little wary of this strange figure that has been spotted." Kyouraku sounded as bored as everyone felt. Then, looking at his agenda that Ise-fukutaicho had faithfully drawn up for him, he suddenly grinned.

"And last," Hitsugaya heard sighs of relief at the sound of a fast approaching end to the monotony. "The matter of the special guest at the Academy for the graduating class." There were some not very well stifled groans from a few of the captains. Kyouraku only grinned wider. "Normally, I would assign the 5th division as they are the next on the rotation, however, it looks like it was taken care of already. Someone already signed up their division to send someone."

There was surprise from several of the captains, some not caring either way, and obvious relief from the 5th division for getting out of the chore.

"Hitsugaya-taicho." Kyouraku grinned at the white-haired captain. "Do you know who you are sending? The Academy wants to let their students know to generate more excitement."

Hitsugaya knew that he had already put down his name on the form so Kyouraku knew exactly who was going. He figured that the eccentric soutaicho simply wanted to let everyone else know, for whatever reason, he wasn't sure.

Dutifully, Hitsugaya nodded. "I was going to go myself." There were a lot of raised eyebrows, several of the captains looking at him with shock and other strange expressions that Hitsugaya couldn't place.

"Wonderful!" Kyouraku exclaimed, obviously not surprised at this news. "Then I shall make sure that the Academy President is aware. They are very honored that you would visit yourself."

Hitsugaya fought to not roll his eyes. Yamamoto-soutaicho wasn't nearly as weird as Kyouraku-soutaicho.

"If that's all," He paused to let any captains bring up anything but in the silence he simply nodded. "Dismissed."

Hitsugaya was halfway to the door before the word had even finished echoing around the large meeting room.

He heard several comments behind him as the other captains chatted amicably with each other. Several of those comments were about the strange news at Hitsugaya's willingness to go to the Academy. His extreme dislike for the Academy and its students somewhat legendary. They could still remember how he had been accosted by a particularly forward female student that had wanted to hug him, exclaiming at his cuteness.

He opened the doors and headed into the sunlight. He would probably tell them _why_ he had volunteered if he knew himself.

Since he hadn't bothered telling anyone about his trip to the Academy, he should have been surprised when Matsumoto had confronted him about it a week after the meeting. But knowing how the rumor mill in Seireitei worked, he really wasn't.

* * *

The morning of his long awaited trip came. He got a little earlier than normal, the Academy day starting at 7 instead of the average 8 o'clock schedule he got to keep. He dressed and ate quickly before strapping on Hyourinmaru and shunpoing out the door.

Hyourinmaru was quivering with excitement and it was rubbing off on him, but his dragon wouldn't (or couldn't) tell him _why_.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! It is such an honor!" The President of the Academy, a very old yet stern man was standing at attention at the entrance to the lecture hall, where Hitsugaya was expected to speak. There were 4 main lecture hall, 3 used for classes and 1 used for assembly meetings when the whole Academy had to gather for start of terms and special announcements, things like that.

At either side of the President, there were several staff members and instructors of various divisions. They were obviously excited to be visited by a captain, especially one that almost no one had seen in over five years. He caught a few of those gathered whispering to each other, obviously about him but too quiet for him to hear.

"The whole school has been most anxious when they heard you coming. Since it has been so long, would you like a tour of the grounds before you head to the lecture hall?" The President offered it kindly but obviously wanted to show off his domain to Hitsugaya-taicho.

Hitsugaya shook his head. "No need. I remember from my time here."

"Of course! I just thought- since it's been a while- and you were only here for a year- record breaking scores in record breaking time!" He stumbled over himself, trying to not offend the blank-faced captain with the icy demeanor. Hitsugaya interrupted the man's ramblings.

"Just lead the way." The man quailed a little before straightening up and nodding. "Of course. This way."

There was a surprising amount of activity for being before classes started. Hitsugaya saw a lot of students peering out of their dorm room windows or gathered in the hallways and classrooms, trying to catch a glimpse of the somewhat legendary taicho.

"We were going to place you in Lecture Hall E, the one usually reserved for our guest speakers, but we had so many requests from other classes that we decided to put you in Lecture Hall A. It is the only one large enough to accommodate all the students that wanted to come. I hope that it's alright."

"It's fine." Hitsugaya said tersely. He honestly didn't care. He didn't even know why he was here. They entered the Hall. He wasn't surprised that it was already half-way full a good 10 minutes before it was supposed to start. He had sensed all of their reiatsu's back at the entrance.

He sat down at the chair that was placed at the back of the stage to the right while he waited for the it to be time.

"Do you have any questions you would like to ask before we begin?" The president was sitting next to him. All the staff and instructors that had been at the entrance and even a few more that had joined them during their walk through the halls, were also sitting next to and behind him. The hall was filling up quickly, the noise level rising with it. It reminded Hitsugaya of the beginning of the year assembly. He had only had to go to one, thank goodness. He would have fallen asleep where he sat if he hadn't been so nervous. He couldn't see because he was several feet shorter than everyone around him and the President at the time had been ancient, older than Yamamoto himself and much more frail. Hitsugaya actually saw several people fall asleep during his speech.

"No thank you." Was all he said to the currant president's inquiry. Hitsugaya watched expressionlessly as the students entered the hall and find empty seats. Because of the size, it had no desks, simply benches that curved around and raised the farther back you went.

At 7 o'clock exactly, the President stood up and walked to the podium. The silence was instantaneous.

"Welcome students, to this year's Conference for graduating students." There was a ripple of amusement. "This year's guest speaker is especially exciting so I understand that many of you are from lower years but have been granted permission by your instructors to be here." Hitsugaya saw plenty of instructors mixed in with the students. No doubt they had let their students come just so they could.

"Hitsugaya-taicho of the Tenth division of the Gotei 13 has been kind enough to grace us with his presence. I expect only the utmost attentiveness and respect during his lecture." He glared at all his students as if daring them to be anything put respectful. "Without further ado, Hitsugaya-taicho."

There was loud applause as the President sat down and Hitsugaya walked up to the podium. He gazed out at what was most likely the whole school.

Guess you should have prepared a longer or more interesting speech, his dragon said with amusement.

I have a feeling that they'll think anything I say will be brilliant, even if it was as dumb as something Kenpachi would say.

He heard the dragon's chuckle in his mind.

"I remember when I had to go to one of these conferences. They just talked about how amazing Shinigami were and tried to talk up their division. I believe that year it was the 9th division that sent someone. It was boring and pointless and nothing more than I had already learned in my History of Seireitei class. So I won't talk about that or try to recruit you to my division. I don't care to say it and you don't care to hear it. I open the floor to questions. I'll answer them unless they're stupid or confidential."

There was a loud ripple of shock at his perfunctory words. He waited for just a few seconds before someone near the front raised their hand, almost smacking the student sitting next to them in their haste. He pointed.

She stood up, pushing up her glasses as she did so. "Hitsugaya-taicho. As someone who has had so much experience as an active member of the Gotei 13 even at such a young age, what is some advice that you would give the graduating class before they send out requests to join divisions?" She sat down with as much promptness as when she had stood up. He was reminded vaguely of Ise-fukutaicho.

It was a good question. He thought for a moment. He could feel the students lean forward. "My advice would be to realize that death is a very real part of a Shinigami's duty. I have had to witness many of my comrades and subordinates die in the line of duty. And more often than not, death in the field means no body to bring back for a funereal. My advice would be to steel yourself for a lot of death and little to no closure. The only way to honor their memory is to make sure that you avenge them and keep going."

There were more mutters of surprise. They obviously hadn't been expecting such a dark topic to be the start of the Conference. There was another hand.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, which division would you recommend we try to get in?"

"I should say the 10th but honestly, not every division is for everyone. Sometimes, certain Shinigami lean towards specific fields, such as healing in the 4th or the research in the 12th. Sometimes, they get along with a particular mindset like the 11th in their fighting is living mentality. Sometimes, a taicho or officers match well with your personality. It is different for everyone. I will say in the 10th, I only take hard, honest workers who put their duty before personal issues and are willing to sacrifice everything and abide by and uphold all the laws and ideals of Seireitei and the Gotei 13."

"What are the other taichos like, from your viewpoint?"

Hyourinmaru chuckled as a brief image of Kyouraku's obnoxious pink kimono, Soifon's obsessive tendencies, Zaraki's insane bloodlust, Kurotsuchi's …everything, flashed through Hitsugaya's mind.

"They all have their …tendencies and idiosyncrasies. They are all diligent and honorable. Some of them are …unique but they all do their duty well. As the youngest among them, my viewpoint will most likely be very different than how they view each other, even me."

How diplomatic, Hyourinmaru grinned.

* * *

The questions continued for some time. It seemed that everyone had a question, some about the Gotei 13 or the divisions, some about the various wars or missions to the human world that he had been in, some about better training or study habits. As the clock ticked by, more and more of the questions started to get a little closer to Hitsugaya personally.

"What's it like being the youngest to ever become a Shinigami and a taicho?"

"It was difficult at first." He could sense their surprise at his lack of hesitation at answering a person question. "Many saw me as too young to be much good. And my captaincy was rather sudden. But I worked hard to be seen for my merit and not for my age. It helps that I'm no longer the youngest Shinigami in all of Gotei 13." He added dryly. Even though Yachiru-fukutaicho was shorter and acted more immature, she was technically older. That had bothered him for a long time.

"What do you do on your free time?"

He thought. "I don't really _have_ free time. As a taicho, my duties extend beyond the simple normal work hours expected of my division members. I suppose that I train if I have a spare minute." He shrugged. "I know that my fukutaicho likes to shop and go drinking."

"Is it true that you graduated in only a year?"

"No. It was slightly less." There was a ripple of amazement.

"Do you remember your graduating scores or at least where you were in the class level when you graduated?"

Hitsugaya thought for a moment. "I don't remember my scores. I was top of my class though."

"I heard that you now have the highest Captain skill test scores in all of Gotei 13. Even higher than the soutaicho!"

He raised his brow. "Was that a question?" The girl that had spoken blushed deeply as the rest of the Hall laughed.

"I just mean, is it true?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't look at other's scores. The scores should be public record." He hadn't looked. He didn't care.

"Do you have a family?"

"I was raised by my Obaa-san and have an adoptive sister, Hinamori-fukutaicho of the 5th division. We grew up together."

"Are you dating anyone?" The tension as almost every female in the room leaned forward waiting to hear his answer was palpable.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't have time for dating."

"Maybe you just haven't found anyone to make time for." The female student who had asked him the dating question replied in what she obviously thought was a seductive way.

"I did have someone. She died. Next question?"

There was silence at his curt reply, the chill in his mood affecting the whole audience.

"…What is the best way to unlock our bankai?"

The questions after this steered clear of more personal subjects, and next thing Hitsugaya knew, he was looking up at the clock and was surprised at the time. Usually, the lectures were only an hour long, only going over if they were stuck with a particularly long-winded lecturer.

However, without Hitsugaya realizing it, he had had a question and answer session for over 4 hours. It was approaching lunch time now. He was surprised that no one had stopped him after the first hour.

"I have taken up too much of your time. I apologize. I hope you learned something." He bowed slightly and turned to go back to his chair so the President could close out the conference but was stopped by the President.

"If you have just a few more minutes, could you perhaps give a last speech or words of advice or just some parting words?" He asked almost pleadingly.

Hitsugaya nodded and turned back to the podium. He stood there for several minutes, pondering. The audience was completely silent, ready to hear his words.

Finally, he spoke.

"I have no words. This is usually when the speakers give a heartfelt, rousing speech about being a Shinigami or serving or something. But I can't. Any meaningful words have already been spoken. So I'll just say, ponder carefully the reason why. Why do you take up the mantle of a Shinigami? Why do you swing your Zanpakutou? Your will sharpens your blade. If you don't know why you're fighting, then you will die." And with that, he turned and walked back to his seat.

Nice. Hyourinmaru's sarcasm was the only thing Hitsugaya heard in the Hall.

* * *

BWAHAHAHA! You thought that they were going to be reunited! I'm so evil! Or am I… Next chapter is Karin again. Let's see what she has to say. Review and I'll be nice!


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Reiatsu and Snot balls

You know, I had an idea for this chapter but it was too long so I'll have to split it. I didn't mean to. I was just having fun with Snotball.

Finals are over so I'm in a good mood. Here's another chapter. Thank you for reviewing! There might be less chapters because you're finally catching up (I'm having difficulty with chapter 20) or there might be more because I now have a whole week of potential writing time. Reviews might motivate me to write more.

 **Disclaimer** : No one ever reads these.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: Reiatsu and Snot balls**

True to her word, as soon the weather started to warm up slightly, they headed for the capital city of Seireitei. Thanks to their healthier diet and actual rest, they moved much faster. It helped that they used main roads, no longer fearing wild men and criminals behind every rock and tree. It took them a solid month of a steady pace to reach the first district, the walls of Seireitei in view. By that time, the weather was warming up considerably and in some places, the snow was melting, revealing long forgotten greenery pushing its way through the frozen ground.

They still had no money and had spent the first day in Rukongai East 1st district just wandering around looking for an abandoned anything to bed down. They found a small lean-to in the back of a forgotten alleyway that they claimed. Everyone stared at them, very much aware that they were from a much higher district.

The next day, Karin and Hana were both heading for the Academy application building. It was very official looking, leaning right up against the walls of Seireitei. There were a fair amount of people milling around in front of it, various levels of dress and care to their appearance revealed the various districts represented. Karin thanked the winter they had spent in a nicer district, allowing them to not be obviously from the 80th district.

Inside the building was a large room with a counter lining the whole back wall. There were lines for each teller, leasing all the way to the opposite wall. By the time Karin got to the clinical looking woman with glasses and a tight bun, she was tired and annoyed and hungry and was just done with all the looks they had been given or the snide remarks from the better dressed and healthier hopefuls.

"Full name and spelling please." The woman said in a bored voice, not even looking up from her sheet. Karin frowned.

"Karin. Like the fruit."

"Surname?"

"I don't have one." She blushed at the snickers from some of the people behind her in line that had heard her. She scowled, angrily.

"What district are you from?"

Karin hesitated then leaned in to mutter quietly, "80th, East." The woman paused for a half second before writing it down. "How many times have you attempted to enter the Academy?"

"Uh, this is my first time." And hopefully my last, she thought. It would take too long to travel back to the 45th district and then come back later.

"Your number is 162E." The lady handed her a sheet with a large black '162E' on it. "When they call your name, you will go in the E door." She pointed to the right and Karin saw a large black 'E' above one of the doors that lined the side. She saw people going in and out with a wide range of emotions. Next to the E door, were doors with the letters, 'F', 'G', 'H', and 'I'.

"Next!" Karin hurried out of Hana's way, the process repeated. Hana's number was 86C.

"Aww, were aren't next to each other!" Hana pouted. Karin smiled encouragingly.

"I'll just be across the room. You should go wait by your door. I think that group over there are all waiting as well." Karin pointed to a group of people that were indeed standing next to the C door, looking every bit as nervous as Hana did.

Hana looked at her with her big, sad, brown eyes. It was the look of a wounded puppy that usually got Karin to do whatever Hana wanted. It was extremely deadly.

"I'll just be here. You can still see me. If anyone bothers you, just yell for me." Hana bowed her head, releasing Karin from the clutches of the puppy eyes. She gently nudged Hana towards the group and watched her slowly make her way through the crowd and approach them. Karin couldn't hear what they said but saw them smile and Hana relax a little. Confident that she would be fine, Karin went to join her own group of hopefuls standing within earshot of the door.

Just as she arrived, the door opened and a girl that looked roughly Karin's age came out, crying. She didn't look at anyone, just quickly brushed past them all.

"I knew she wouldn't make it. You can tell. Souls from higher districts just don't cut it. They don't have any training and barely know how to conduct themselves in civilized society." The speaker was a haughty boy with a very clean, probably very expensive yukata. He had hair that had been brushed so much it shined. He stood very formally, his hands behind his back.

"121E!" came the shout from the still open door. Karin saw a room much smaller than this one with a table and two people sitting at it, a bunch of papers in front of them. A mousy looking boy jumped at the number and scurried in.

Karin heard a lazy and slightly amused "Shut the door." The boy was blushing profusely as he had to go back and close the door. The snooty boy that had spoken earlier laughed loudly, a few others in the group sniggering at him.

When the door closed, the annoying boy continued his monologue. "I would be very surprised if he made it in. Someone of his caliber would probably die on his first real mission." Karin could tell that the people who were listening to him were only doing so because of his confidence that was downright cocky. "I think they should be more selective about who they let in. I don't think that just because you have a bit of reiatsu means that you are worthy of being a part of the Gotei 13. There are other things to take in to consideration."

"Like what?" A boy that looked like he had a hard time finding the right way to hold a spoon asked, the brat smiling at being asked.

"Like lineage! Take that girl that just left. Obviously, she was from a higher district, probably little to no family. I heard that people past the 10th district don't even have surnames!" He said it as though the very idea was laughable. "Honestly, they shouldn't even have them try out. It's clear that they won't be able to hack it. There's no way that people with a significant reiatsu can survive with no food."

"What happens to the people that do have a high reiatsu but are in the higher districts?" A nervous looking girl that looked like she had come from the fifth or lower districts. She looked at the snob with wide-eyes, taking his confidence as if it were evidence of his authority on all matters.

The snotball shrugged, like he didn't care one wit. "I guess they starve to death. Just bad luck for being stuck in hellholes like those districts."

Karin at first had taken the words of the dickwad as an overconfident spoiled brat, but the more words came out of the butthole he called a mouth, the angrier she got. She was about to open her mouth and chew him out when the door opened and the mousy boy stumbled out, a huge smile of relief on his face.

"I passed!" He shouted excitedly before running off, no doubt to celebrate with his own family and friends.

The brat scoffed as number 122E was called and another boy entered, closing the door behind him.

"Well, color my surprised. Apparently just about anyone can get in to the Academy."

"Of course anyone can get in to the Academy." Karin spat at him, her hands on her hips. "Even egotistical, superficial, cocky, snot-nosed brats like you!" All of the surrounding people quieted down and stared at the two of them, Karin fuming, the boy with a shocked expression. Apparently he wasn't used to being talked back to. He sniffed haughtily.

"And what does a…" He looked her up and down, taking in the dirty and torn yukata, the layer of grime on her skin and her still matted and greasy hair. "I'm sorry, I can't tell. Are you a boy or a girl? It's hard to tell what's under all that dirt." He smirked as his Crony guffawed stupidly.

"I'm a girl." She shot back, her face reddening in anger. "But I still have bigger balls than you!" It was her turn to smirk as the people around her gave snorts of laughter.

He scowled. "Obviously, since you're lacking in the female department, you have to make up for it somewhere." The comeback was weak and everyone knew it. Karin was actually well-endowed. Frustratingly so. She had had to strap them down so they wouldn't get in the way of her running but it was obvious that she _wasn't_ lacking in the 'female department' to everyone.

She smirked. "Maybe it's you that's lacking and to make up for you lack of _size_ , you pretend to be a guy." There were more snickers, even Crony had to stifle his laughs. The boy was very red faced and opened his mouth to retort when the door opened and the boy came out looking very sad. He paused when he noticed the tension in the immediate area.

"123E!" One of the proctors called out. The brat closed his mouth, and with chin lifted and a haughty huff, he marched into the room and closed the door roughly.

Karin snorted. With Snotball gone, the people around her struck up conversations with her, congratulating her on her comebacks.

"I had wanted to say something but I was scared that he would start picking on me next." A shy girl with dark hair and a light complexion blushed. "I'm from the 26th district." She explained as if embarrassed.

"We passed it on our way here. It looked nice to us." Karin shrugged.

"What district are you from?"

"The 80th."

"Of course an uncivilized and dirty piece of trash like yourself would be from the 80th. That's so far from civilization that I heard the people eat each other!" Snotball had opened the door just as Karin announced her home district. His smug look and cocky swagger were enough evidence that he had passed.

"124E!" A girl entered and the door closed.

"Don't you have anywhere better to be? Like, anywhere else?" Karin asked with a bored expression on her face.

"Of course I have better places to be! I'm Kobayashi Gorou, 5th son of the Kobayashi clan, a cousin to the great Shiba clan!" He puffed out his chest as though this meant something. Apparently to a few surrounding people, this did mean something but to Karin, all she heard was hot air.

"Great! Then go hang out with them. Maybe they can stomach your inane yacking." Karin looked away from him, knowing that it would just bother him more.

It worked. He looked close to exploding at her dismissal of his title. "You probably don't even know about the Noble clans in Soul Society. I bet that you haven't even heard of the Kuchiki clan!"

Karin raised a brow. No, she hadn't heard of the noble families. But quite frankly, she didn't care about them. So what if they were lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family.

"All I hear is you trying to sound more important by attaching yourself to other, _greater_ people than you. Your family name doesn't mean anything. Who you are is defined by your actions. And so far, you've defined yourself as a whiny, pampered, annoying, jerk who is filled with hot air.

"125E!"

"We'll see." He glowered. "You know, I hope you do make it into the academy. Then I will show you just how far beneath me you are."

Karin matched his glare. "Fine. _When_ I make it, I'll show _you_ just how insignificant _you_ are." They continued to glare at each other, shouting insults or (in Gotou's case) bad-mouthing her to those standing nearby, loudly.

* * *

"132E!" It was finally her turn.

"See you on the other side. Or not." His smirk infuriated her as she marched into the room and almost slammed the door closed.

The room was dark, lit only with dim lanterns along the wall. The two proctors looked extremely bored. She probably would be too if she had to sit through 132 exams before noon.

"Step forward." The man spoke, the woman pulling out a fresh form from a stack to her right.

"This examination is simple. It's just to test that you have sufficient reiatsu and enough control over it to form it. I need you to gather reishi in your hand, as large and as stable as you can make it for as long as you can." Karin was surprised. That was it? She and Hana had both practiced that for hours while they waited for the snow to melt. She smiled. She would show that 5th son brat.

She raised her hand and concentrated, just like she had all winter. The glowing ball formed quickly. It was very large, bigger than her own head. She had worked hard till she could keep this ball smooth all along the edges, a perfect circle. And then she held it. Once it was in this state, she didn't need to concentrate, holding it coming second nature to her by now.

She saw the faces of both the proctors and they looked surprised at her reiatsu ball, but Karin wasn't sure exactly why.

"How long did you say you wanted me to hold it?" Karin asked.

"As long as you can." She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Honestly, she didn't know how long she could hold it. She usually stopped after a few minutes to practice reforming it or because she was hungry or bored. The minutes ticked by.

"Are you feeling tired?" The female proctor asked.

Karin thought for a minute. "Not really."

"Are you hungry?" the male asked.

Karin shrugged. "I'm always hungry. You learn to ignore it unless it gets really bad. There's not a whole lot of food where I'm from."

"Where is that?" The female again.

"The 80th district, but Hana and I have been staying in the 45th district over the winter. We just got into town yesterday." She was feeling very bored.

"Can you make it bigger?" The male asked, giving her a look of concentration. The female and Karin were both surprised.

"Um, maybe." She concentrated on the reiatsu ball in her hand again. She slowly made it bigger and bigger. It didn't get any heavier which Karin was grateful for. She went slow to make sure she could keep it stable. She had had many mishaps before. It would start to wobble, the outline getting a little wavy. And then when she couldn't contain it any more, it would burst out like and explosion. She had singed her hair more times than she liked to count.

It started to wobble. She frowned. Waves along the surface. She stopped making it bigger (it was now over twice as large as it had been) and tried to contain it but it wobbled even harder. She gulped.

"I'm losing it!" She called to the proctors. "If I don't stop, it'll-" but they found out exactly what would happen. With a loud bang, her reiatsu exploded. She tried to force it up, not wanting the hurt the proctors. She succeeded but it turned out she needn't have bothered, an invisible wall glowed in front of them as some of the explosion headed their way.

Thanks to her directing it at the last minute, she hadn't been injured, although her ear was ringing slightly. Surprisingly, the ceiling wasn't damaged. She figured that it was protected by another invisible force field.

"Well, 132E. I think it's safe to say that you passed. The spring semester starts in a week. You arrived just in time. We expect great things from you."

Extremely pleased, Karin bowed and went to leave. The whole test had taken a long time, almost 10 minutes.

The male proctor called for her just before she opened the door. "Wait! What's your name?"

"Karin." She promptly answered.

"Do you have a surname?" She shook her head.

"Very well. Good luck. And you'll probably want to eat something. You just spent a lot of reiatsu." As if on cue, Karin's stomach growled. She blushed but they just smiled.

"Good luck, Karin!" The female called out to her as she opened the door.

The crowd was still gathered, Snotball standing smugly with his arms crossed. "Well?" He asked.

She grinned. "See you in a week, Snotball."

* * *

Haha! Gotta love her. This chapter was getting too long so next chapter will also be her. In fact, she might have several chapters. I don't know. Review?


	17. 16: Meeting New People is Uncomfortable

I would like to thank Google for providing me with so many Japanese names. Seriously though.

Okay, huge side note. I just read the newest chapter of Bleach. **Spoiler** Toshiro transformation *drool* *squeel* *more drool* *immediately went to deviantart to see more pictures of transformation* *forced to buy new laptop because last one is completely ruined due to massive amounts of drool* I have been waiting for that particular transformation since I first saw him. Seriously. *more drool thinking about it*

 **Disclaimer** : I claim OC's and plots but unfortunately, nothing else is mine.

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen: Meeting New People is Uncomfortable**

"We're going to be late, Karin! Let's go!" Karin rolled her eyes but walked a little faster than her previous strolling pace. It was the first day of classes. They had both woken up really early to go to the nearby river and clean themselves. Hana had insisted on combing and washing Karin's hair till it shone with glossy beauty and rolled down her back in surprisingly soft, long waves. She hadn't realized just how long it was since it was always matted or crazy.

She scratched her head. After over an hour of being attacked by Hana's comb, her head still tingled and itched from the constant pulling and teasing. It was actually rather sore.

The path into Seireitei was crowded, most of the wanderers wearing the traditional uniform of the Academy. Several of them were being escorted by family or maybe friends. It was loud and people kept bumping into Karin, irritating her to no end. Hana seemed oblivious to any and all discomfort, her own medium length hair with natural soft curls bouncing with each step she took, her eyes shining as she tried to look at everything.

They reached the Academy gate and Hana gasped in excitement. There was a fence surrounding all of the grounds, which were extensive, made the same white walls as the rest of Seireitei. The gate was made of intricately carved wood. They were thrown wide open to allow for the press of bodies that was making its way inside. Karin grabbed the back of Hana's uniform in order to keep track of her as the crowd threatened to separate them.

Karin didn't have a clue where to go but everyone else looked like they knew exactly where they were going. All they had in their possessions was a small bag that held their extra uniforms and whatever personal supplies they might need, which in Hana's case was a comb and her favorite yukata, and in Karin's case was nothing. Karin looked at the paper she had been given. It had the date and location for the first day, Lecture Hall A, for orientation as well as the dorm number, building F room 22, and then they would report to booths that would be set up that would give them their class schedules for the following day. Apparently the school didn't try to hold classes with all the craziness of new students.

Hana apparently had an internal map or something because she quickly dragged Karin to where the dorm buildings were. There were four for the females and four for the males. They were separated by a thick white wall and had only one entrance to each division with a small building right outside each. Karin saw people sitting in front of the large counters and knew that they were both for information and to keep the opposite genders out.

Karin and Hana had to split when they passed the gate as they were in separate buildings. Although Hana was slightly depressed that they weren't living together anymore, her excitement won out in the end and with a quick promise to meet up with Karin at the gate so they could go to orientation together, she was gone.

Karin sighed and walked slowly to her building. They were three stories tall, ten rooms on each floor. She forced her way inside the main doors and pushed her way up the stairs, ignoring the decorations and general fanciness of the main room, making her way to her room. She found the door at the end of the hallway, one of the farthest from the stairs. It was quieter (slightly) and less crowded. She took out her key and opened the door.

It was a small, two-roomed area, two beds and desks with a small nightstand next to each bed. There were two small closets near the beds and another door that Karin saw led to a bathroom with two sinks and a large mirror.

Her roommate was already there, unpacking several large suitcases with more clothes than Karin had ever seen, much less to be owned by a single person. Her hair was short, just under chin, and was a dark black with a pink strip in the front. She wore the same uniform that Karin was wearing but Karin saw her unload various expensive looking kimonos into the closet and drawers. Her desk was already covered in tons of make-up and jewelry.

Internally, Karin groaned. She hoped that her roommate was nothing like Snotball. She couldn't handle being stuck with someone like that for 6 years. One or both of them would die.

Her roommate looked up when Karin opened the door and Karin was looking into bright green eyes. They both stared at each other for a few seconds, sizing each other up. Then the girl grinned and squealed.

"Ohmigosh,areyoumyroommate?I'msoexcitedtomeetyou!MynameisItoAkemi! ' ,actually,thefirsttime,Ijustdidn' , 'tsurewhethertheyhadadaughterorpig,youknow!Anyways,I'mfromSeireiteiactually,butmyfamilyisn' 'tanoblefamilyanymoresowe' 'tcareaboutnamesbecauseImean,justbecauseyouhavealittlemoneydoesn'tmakeyouspecial, 'reabumthatlivesoffoftheworkofotherpeople,youknow?Sodon'tfeeluncomfortablearoundme.I'mreallynice,Iswear.I' . ' 'syourname?"

Karin blinked. She had maybe understood about four words out of all of that. Something about a pig?

"…what?" Karin asked, confused.

The girl blushed. "Sorry. When I'm excited, I kind of just 'go on' you know? I'm Ito Akemi. What's your name?" She said, much slower, offering her hand to shake. Karin reached out and grabbed it. It was very soft, obviously lotioned frequently.

"Karin."

"It's so nice to meet you Karin!" She smiled happily, not even phased at the lack of a proffered surname. "We're going to be best friends. I can tell!" She happily went back to her unpacking, continuing her monologue. Karin tuned out her ramblings. She was talking to fast to understand her and she was sure it was more for the sake of talking rather than to be heard. She was nice enough so Karin decided to just ignore the blathering's rather than be annoyed at them.

With only the spare uniforms that they had given her to unpack into the closet, Karin was finished within a minute.

"That's all you brought?" Akemi asked, seeing her close the closet. Karin frowned.

"It's all I have." She said with a defiant look in her eye, daring her to mock her lack of possessions.

"What about shampoos and soaps and things? And do you really not where make-up?" The look was more of awe than mockery. This girl was weird.

"No." Was the only response she got.

"Wow! But your skin is so beautiful! And your eyes! You really aren't wearing anything on your lips? That's their natural color?" She moved closer to Karin, wide-eyed. She reached out a hand to her face but Karin stopped it with raised brows.

"Yes." She was uncomfortable with Akemi's closeness and fascination with her looks. Karin could see that Akemi had quite a bit of make-up on, but pleasantly so, not caked, like some of the cheap whores that Karin had seen.

"Wow!" She said again, taking a step back. What I wouldn't give for your natural beauty. You're going to be the most sought after girl in the whole Academy."

Karin scowled. She did not like the sound of that. She'd rather everyone kept their distance from her. And besides, Hana was much prettier. Heck, this girl was prettier and she had soft hands and well brushed hair that no doubt took way too long to get it that perfect.

"As for shampoos and bathroom stuff, you're more than welcome to use all of mine. You can even use my make-up and lotions and things. It'll be fun! On our days off, we can dress up and make all the boys go crazy! Not that you need anything for that. Seriously, I just want to pull off your face and wear it."

Akemi turned back to her unpacking, not seeing the concern that flashed in Karin's face at her strange comment. Karin just shook her head. This girl was weird. And crazy. She might not be like Snotball, but Karin had a feeling that she was going to be her own special brand of crazy.

"Where are you going? Do you want to go to the welcoming ceremony together? I don't really know anyone here. Well, anyone that I _want_ to know, anyway." She added with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm meeting Hana. We were going to go together."

"Wonderful! I'll come with! Is Hana your friend? It's so cool that you have a friend already. I was really nervous about coming by myself but…" Karin ignored her as she walked back out of the room, Akemi following, forgetting about her still trashed side of the room. Akemi talked the entire trip to the gate. Hana wasn't there yet but Karin could see the majority of the students already making their way away from their dorms and towards the main Academy buildings.

The ceremony was for all years, not just those that were starting. Soon, Karin saw Hana walking towards them, someone who was probably her roommate walking with her. Her roommate was actually the same height as Hana which was several inches shorter than Karin and Akemi. Maybe they were assigned roommates that were the same height?

"Karin! This is my roommate Hasegawa Shizuko! Hasegawa-chan, this is Karin-chan, my Neesan!" Karin felt a bubble of happiness at Hana's words. They had never actually called themselves sisters, but it was implied. Or so Karin had always privately hoped.

"Hello Karin-chan!" Shizuko said quietly, a light blush on her cheeks. Karin raised a brow and the blush deepened. Talk about shy. The girl couldn't even meet Karin's gaze, just gave a small, polite bow. Karin nodded politely back.

"Hi Hasegawa-chan and Karin-chan's imoto! I'm Karin-chan's roommate, Ito Akemi!" She waved with a huge grin on her face.

"Hi, Ito-chan! I'm Hana!" Hana smiled warmly. Shizuko gave a timid "Hello" in reply.

"Let's go." Karin said, done with the introductions. All three of them gave a formal "Hai~!" before following Karin. She mostly ignored them. New people made her uncomfortable. It was probably just the wariness that she had developed after five years of living in an inhospitable place.

The lecture hall was easy to find. They just followed the crowds. Well, Karin followed the crowd, the other three girls, followed Karin. Akemi and Hana seemed to hit it off, their bubbly and naturally friendly personalities mixing well. Hana's big heart made sure that she included the painfully shy Shizuko in their conversation. They included Karin occasionally, who kept her replies short and precise, concentrating on the people around them. Logically, Karin knew that it was almost impossible that they were going to be attacked but she kept her guard up on instinct.

Lecture Hall A was huge, rows of benches that were separated by stairs, led down to a small, half-circle stage with a few chairs occupied by what looked like instructors and staff, a podium at the front of the stage.

"Where should we sit?" Hana asked as they surveyed the mostly crowded room.

"There's an empty spot!" Akemi pointed to a small area off to the side. Karin once again led the way, forcing people out of the way. She really didn't like how crowded it was, how so many people kept touching her. She was getting extremely irritated. They squeezed onto the bench, first Akemi, then Karin, Hana, and finally Shizuko who clung to Hana like she was a piece of driftwood in the middle of an ocean.

"Is this spot taken?" A male voice asked Akemi, pointing to the empty spot next to her. They looked up at the speaker. He had shaggy brown hair that fell into his warm, watery brown eyes. He body was sturdy and filled out but his posture spoke of extreme shyness. Karin was reminded of a puppy.

"It is now!" Akemi smiled and patted the spot encouragingly. He blushed and gave her a thankful smile, sitting down next to her.

"Thanks. I lost my roommate in the crowd and I don't know anyone else."

"Well, now you know us! I'm Ito Akemi, this is Karin-chan my roommate, Hana-chan, her imoto, and Hasegawa Shizuko, Hana-chan's roommate!" She pointed to each person as she introduced them. Karin ignored him, Hana smiled and waved, and Shizuko blushed a deep red and bowed her head.

He smiled. "I'm Murakami Hisoka."

"Murakami-kun! There you are! I lost you!" Another male came up, stepping over and around students as he climbed up the benches instead of the stairs. He was more slender than Hisoka, but carried himself with much more confidence, his hair short, black, and spikey. He had a smile that made it seem like he was about to do something devious.

"Geez, I lose sight of you for a minute and already you're chatting up the ladies." He winked at them, all but Karin blushing, Akemi laughing at Hisoka's deep blush and stuttered protestations. The newcomer laughed. "Relax man, I'm just teasing! You look like you're about to have a panic attack!" He turned to the four females. "I'm Aoki Masaru, Maruakami-kun's roommate. You can call me Masuru." He bent down and exaggeratedly kissed the back of Akemi's hand. She blushed slightly but laughed good-naturedly. He tried to do the same to Karin but she just gave a glare.

"Enchanted," He said to her, raising a brow at her intensity. "And what are all your beautiful names?" His smile was flirtatious and genial. He annoyed Karin.

It was Akemi who introduced them again. Masaru commented on every name, in really cheesy lines that went with their names.

"Akemi is perfect for one with such a brilliant smile!"

"Hana? How apprapro! Only one with the beauty of a flower could wear a name with such grace!"

"Shizuko eh? Why speak when you have a face that speaks for itself?"

Karin's scowl prevented him from commenting on her name. Inwardly, she grinned evilly.

After introductions, he sat next to Hisoka, talking to Akemi and Hisoka familiarly. Occasionally, Hana would speak around Karin. She just couldn't help but be friendly to these people.

The Hall quickly filled and when an older man stood up and approached the podium, it fell silent.

"Welcome to Shino Academy. For those of you coming back, we are pleased that you have decided to continue and encourage you to keep up your studies. For those who recently passed the entrance exams, we welcome you and would just like to say that you have chosen to embark on the noblest of journey's, to join the ranks of the Shinigami or Onmitsukido or the Kido Corps. Each group has its own noble history and lineage and …." And on and on and on.

It became apparent that this man, who introduced himself as the President of the whole Academy, was determined to let them know exactly what they were in for as well as the history of all of Soul Society. Karin tuned him out fairly quickly. Hana tried to pay attention but even her attention was wavering. Akemi's eyelids were drooping and Masaru was already asleep, drooling on Hisoka's shoulder, who had a glazed look in his eyes.

* * *

"…and of a special note, this graduating class special speaker is one that we are looking forward to with extreme anticipation. We have confirmed that Hitsugaya-taicho of the tenth division of the Gotei 13 will be honoring us with his presence personally this semester." This statement grabbed the Hall's attention again, a murmur of excitement rippling through the crowds. Masaru was startled awake with a loud snort, blinking blearily at the slightly animated crowd.

"When he comes, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, their uniforms up to code and everyone looking presentable for one of his status. Because of all the requests, we have decided to open up his lecture for not only the graduating class but all those who wish to come that do not have classes during that hour. Before we close, we would like Fujita-sensei, instructor of the advanced 2nd class, to speak to us briefly about the standards and rules that we expect to be followed to the letter here at Shino Academy.

A thin man who resembled a bokken stepped up to the podium but Karin wasn't paying attention.

"A taicho coming here? On our very first year? We are so lucky!" Akemi was quivering in excitement.

"Maybe he'll show us his bankai!" Masaru had a dangerous sparkle in his eye. "Only taicho-level Shinigami have bankais!"

"What's a bankai?" Hisoka asked, a confused expression on his face. Karin was grateful that he asked, as she had never heard of the term before.

"It's the final released stage of a Shinigami's Zanpakutou." Akemi answered. "It's super powerful and only those with really high reiatsu's can achieve it. It takes decades to achieve it, and then even longer to master it."

"That's amazing!" Shizuko spoke up, her eyes sparkling in awe.

Karin knew vaguely that a Zanpakutou was what Shinigami called their weapons but she hadn't heard about 'released forms'. She didn't say anything so as not to sound ignorant. Hana seemed to adopt the same philosophy as she listened to the conversation with wide-eyes.

They whispered excitedly about the news and the Academy in general, not bothering to pay attention anymore.

* * *

After what felt like hours, they were finally released.

"Let's go get our schedules quickly, before everyone else gets there!" Masaru led the group, weaving purposefully through the crowd. Karin stayed close to Hana, not wanting her to get separated.

The booths already had long lines but they got in them quickly, all but Karin talking excitedly.

"I hope that we have classes together, Karin-chan!" Hana said nervously.

"You are assigned classes based on how well you did in your entrance exams." Hisoka explained. "I didn't do too well on them, I don't think." He looked sad.

"I'm sure you did just fine, Murakami-kun." Hana smiled kindly, gently placing a hand on his arm. He blushed and smiled back. Karin watched the interaction suspiciously.

"You mean, I might not be in the same class as any of you?" Shizuko asked, fear in her eyes.

"It all depends." Akemi assured her. "I think some of the classes are combined, so even if we don't have the all the same classes, chances are that we'll have at least one or two together."

They had reached the booth. The staff handed them their schedules after finding their names on a long list of names. They moved off to the side so they could examine and compare.

Hana, Shizuko, and Hisoka were all in class 1-C. Karin, Akemi, and Masaru were in class 1-A. However, their schedules weren't perfectly aligned. They shared some classes with each other and some classes with the other trio. Their schedules were based on how they were ranked. Therefore, Karin found that she had the most classes by herself, Akemi and Masaru had apparently ranked closely together. Hana, Shizuko, and Hisoka's schedules were almost identical.

"Wow, Karin, what did you score on the entrance exam?" Akemi asked, looking over Karin's shoulder.

"You're in the 1st class!" Masaru's looked at her with newfound respect. Karin had no idea what any of that meant. She was annoyed with her schedule because she only had two classes in the week with Hana.

Hana was just as sad. "It's okay, Karin-chan. We'll still see each other often outside of class.

Karin nodded but wasn't really assured.

"Well, look at what we have here. Scum and her friends." Karin groaned. She knew that annoying slimy voice anywhere, unfortunately.

Snotball sauntered up to their group, flanked by three cronies. "I guess you weren't bluffing. Just goes to show how they let anyone in the Academy."

"What do _you_ want, Gorou?" It was Akemi who spoke up, frowning at Snotball and his cronies.

"Nothing, Akemi. At least, nothing from _you_. You're just another example of how they let in all sorts of trash." He replied nastily.

"Do you guys know each other?" Masaru asked, watching the exchange with raised eyebrows.

"Unfortunately, this weasel is my cousin." Akemi scowled, matching Karin's expression in distaste.

"Not that anyone would want to be associated with the likes of _you_." He sniffed, his nose in the air, arms crossed.

Karin was sad. She like Akemi. Oh well. Guess you there's a reason you choose your friends, not your family.

"I just came to show that piece of trash just how different we are." He held out his schedule. "Read it and weep, loser. I'm in the first class, ranked in the top 10 in our class."

Akemi snatched the paper from him and looked in over. Then a smirk appeared. She grabbed Karin's and her smile got bigger.

"Looks like you'll have a companion in your classes, Gorou." She held out both papers for him to see. "I guess you're not that much different from her as you thought."

They all crowded around to see.

The schedules were identical.

* * *

Well, duh. As a Potterhead, it's important to have an adversary nearby. (I kind of based him off of Draco Malfoy.) Karin has a chapter or two more before I go back to Toushirou. I love him but I feel bad for neglecting Karin. And now that's she's enrolled, some stuff will happen. Mainly, her kicking everyone's but. Those darn Kurosaki genes.

BTW, the main plot is not even fully realized yet. I'm just having fun with them. Karin's murder will appear again and you will understand all. If you review more, I'll tell more.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Questions

I finally caught Karin up to where Toushirou is in the story. Maybe now I'll go back and forth again. Who knows.

 **Disclaimer** : I feel like they need more of a background on how the Academy works, especially the entrance exam. I looked it up on (which honestly, I use a lot when writing this. Research and all that.) and I got the gist of it but it was pretty vague.

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Questions**

Karin discovered very early on in her time at the Academy that her not gentle demeanor translated into her skills as a Shinigami. She was strong and forceful and blunt and her instructors constantly had to tell her to back off a little, they didn't want to send another student to the medical station. Not that she was trying. It wasn't her fault that they couldn't take the hits.

Snotball constantly mocked her for her lack of finesse, openly calling her out in class for being blunt and crass and uncivilized. She ignored him. She figured it was because he was upset that she knocked him unconscious the first day of their hakuda class. She learned that day that while just punching someone in the face was extremely satisfying, it rarely worked in real-life fights. Or at least, that's what her instructor said while he was being carried off to the medical station.

Hana was in her element. She loved everything about the Academy. And everyone loved her. She was too kind and sweet for anyone to dislike her. Even the teachers. Karin always had a laugh when Hana introduced her as her Neesan. Their expressions as they looked between the sweet and gentle Hana to the harsh and brash Karin was priceless.

Finally, it was the day. The day that everyone was waiting for.

Hitsugaya-taicho was going to come to the Academy.

"Karin-chan! What on earth are you doing still sleeping? Don't you know what today is?"

Karin groaned and rolled over on her mattress. Of course she bloody well knew what today was. She had only been constantly reminded of it multiples every single day since the day she started at the Academy. She ignored Akemi who was sitting at her self-made vanity (she had set up a large mirror at her desk. She spent more time getting ready at her desk than she did using it for her homework.) busily going through her morning routines. At 5:30 in the morning.

"Karin! If you don't get up now, you won't have time to get ready for Hitsugaya-taicho!"

Karin would have rolled her eyes but they were firmly shut. "It only takes me like, 10 minutes to get ready." 10 minutes was when Karin took her time in the shower. She couldn't understand how Akemi could spend literally hours getting ready.

She heard Akemi gasp. "Don't you want to look extra nice for the taicho? I mean, he's a taicho and the youngest taicho ever, not to mention arguably the strongest!"

And there it was.

Karin had a sneaking suspicion that at least 90% of the entire female population would be making sure that they looked 'extra nice.' Karin was of 10% realist who knew that he wouldn't ever see them and even if he did, he wouldn't look twice. Captains didn't go for Academy students.

Having learned the art of completely tuning out Akemi within the first week of the year, Karin simply applied this skill and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Karin! If we want a decent seat, we've got to go!" Karin blearily blinked her eyes open. According to the clock, it was now 6:13. She groaned. She couldn't deny that Akemi was right. No doubt the lecture hall was already filled with students. Probably mostly female, trying to get close to the podium so that they would have a better chance of catching the youngest captain's eye.

Rolling out of bed, Karin fell in a disgraceful pile on the ground. She crawled to the bathroom and let the extremely hot water wake her up. She was not a morning person. The water was so hot that it left Karin's skin red when she came out, quickly getting dressed. She brushed her teeth quickly and ran Akemi's comb through her wet hair, taking out the obvious tangles. And with that, she was ready.

Akemi was doing some last minute touch-ups to her flawless hair. Karin yawned. What were their chances of getting something to eat before the lecture?

Very good actually as Karin forced Akemi to wait for her as she quickly ate as much as she could in 10 minutes (which was a scary amount) before stuffing her pockets with snack for the day. When Karin found out that food was readily available, she quickly formed a habit of snacking throughout the day. Her time at the Academy had been the first time that she had ever been full. She had almost cried in happiness.

They met up with their usual group just outside the mess hall.

"Knew you'd be here!" Masaru smirked, leaning casually against the wall. "You spend more time eating than you do anything else."

Karin just shrugged, taking a bite out of her pilfered apple. They made their way to the lecture hall. The hallways were already filled with students, talking excitedly, heading towards the lecture hall themselves.

"If you listen carefully, She-beast, something might get through even your thick skull."

"If you listen carefully, Snotball, you'd realize that no one cares to hear you speak." She greeted Gorou back.

He had taken to calling her She-beast after the incident in their hakuda class. On the plus side, the punch seemed to have knocked some sense into him. He still said stupid and old-fashioned things, but they were said more for traditions sake. She had a feeling that she had his grudging respect due to her skills in class. And unfortunately, she had grudging respect for him to. He definitely held his own.

Gorou and his roommate, a surprisingly kind guy named Okada Isao, who didn't speak much but smiled kindly at most everyone, joined them as they headed for the Hall. Karin figured that Gorou had lucked out with his roommate, getting possibly the only person in the entire Academy who could stand him.

Their trek was interrupted by a commotion along the main hallway. They paused to see what was going on. It became apparent very soon.

Apparently, Hitsugaya-taicho had arrived.

"I can't see!" Hana stood on her tip-toes to try and see past the heads of the taller students that were blocking the way. Hisoka was the tallest of them all, and peered over the line of students in front of them

"Woah." Was his reaction to catching a glimpse of the famous taicho.

"What? Did you see him? What did he look like?" Akemi practically shook him.

"He's… really young. Like, _really_ young. I think he's around our age."

Karin raised an eyebrow. "Hasn't he been captain for decades?"

"How young was he when he was made captain?" Shizuko asked quietly.

Hisoka shook his head. "Must have been super young. Honestly, he might even be younger than some people here. But he's got white hair."

Weird, thought Karin. "Cool!" Was everyone else's response.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on. If everyone is having the same response to seeing him as you guys, then we need to hurry or there won't be any seats left.

They all followed her into the hall.

They quickly took a seat near the back due to how many people had gotten up early just so they could sit closer. Hitsugaya-taicho wasn't there yet, having gone a different route in order to walk in through the staff door behind the stage.

"I'm so excited!" Hana was quivering in her seat next to Karin. "A taicho of the Gotei 13, in the flesh!"

Karin smiled. "I bet you anything that his nose will be huge."

"Karin!" Hana and Akemi both looked horrified. All the boys laughed. Shizuko looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or be offended.

All their attention was diverted when the stage door opened and the President walked in, followed closely by Hitsugaya-taicho.

Karin froze.

Inside her, the normally calm shrouded figure suddenly burst out in what could only be described as joy.

Finally, Karin heard her sigh before settling back down on her throne.

Karin wasn't sure exactly what just happened but it looked like no one noticed or had similar reactions. They were excited and shocked at how young he looked and his unusual features (i.e. his white hair and ice-blue eyes) but Karin felt something deeper, a strange… longing. It made her stomach flop-flip uncomfortably. She felt hot and cold all at once. Her palms started sweating and there was a tightness in her chest. She must be sick. She was tempted to excuse herself to get checked out at the medical station but whatever reaction her body was having calmed down slightly after a few minutes.

The President stood up and after a short introduction as well as a warning to behave, Hitsugaya-taicho took his place at the podium. There was a brief moment of silence as he surveyed the crowd. Karin felt her companions actually, physically scoot closer.

"I remember when I had to go to one of these conferences. They just talked about how amazing Shinigami were and tried to talk up their division. I believe that year it was the 9th division that sent someone. It was boring and pointless and nothing more than I had already learned in my History of Seireitei class. So I won't talk about that or try to recruit you to my division. I don't care to say it and you don't care to hear it. I open the floor to questions. I'll answer them unless they're stupid or confidential."

His voice was deep, way deeper than she thought it would be. It was like a low growl, primal and instinctual. She suppressed a shiver.

Then a hand raised and the questions began.

* * *

Many questions later, Karin had to admit that she was having fun. She had assumed that it would be a boring lecture by some windbag of a taicho, but Hitsugaya-taicho was short and concise in his answers and very blunt. He didn't mince words, even if the topic was dark or not something that people talked about openly. And he didn't seem to mind all the questions. No matter how personal.

Well, almost all.

"Are you dating anyone?" Karin wasn't too overly surprised at the question. When he had opened the floor for questions, she knew, sooner or later, a girl would ask. Even Karin admitted that he wasn't bad looking. His position as a captain helped. Not to mention the cool, mysterious vibe he gave.

"I don't have time for dating."

Karin was surprised that he had answered. She had assumed that he would brush of the silly girl and possibly even reprimand her for asking.

"Maybe you just haven't found anyone to make time for." Karin almost groaned out loud. Was there no shame?

"I did have someone. She died. Next question?"

Karin, along with everyone else, felt the immediate tension in the room. The girl that had asked had the decency to blush and look ashamed. His face was as expressionless as it had been the whole time.

Suddenly, Karin saw him. Except he was younger, so much younger. He looked like he was 11 or 12. He was in his Shinigami robes. She saw his back, the long Zanpakutou strapped to it, not quite covering the number 10 on his haori. He was holding back the fist of a menos with a single hand and didn't even look like he was trying. He glanced back at her. And then she was back in the lecture hall and he was answering a question that she hadn't heard.

She blinked and looked around. Again, no one saw her or whatever it was that she saw. She shook her head. She was definitely going to the medical station after this. She took some of her snacks out of her pocket. Maybe she was just hungry.

The lecture lasted until almost noon, but no one was complaining. Not even Karin. He gave great tips and advice. His final words left her as shocked as everyone else. Except for some strange reason, she also felt like laughing. Realizing that this wouldn't be appropriate, she stifled her laughter and watched as he sat down and after the President realized that Hitsugaya-taicho was indeed done, he got up and closed out the meeting. No one listened to him, too busy whispering to their friends, reviewing all that Hitsugaya-taicho had said. Karin's friends were doing the same but Karin ignored them, tired from sitting for almost five hours straight, and nibbled on one of her snacks.

The President dismissed them to go to their classes (or whatever classes they had left) before he led Hitsugaya-taicho out of the Hall.

"Come on." Karin jumped up.

"You want to see Hitsugaya-taicho before he leaves, too?" Hana asked, surprised.

"What? No! I just spent 5 hours listening to that guy speak.! No, I meant, come on, let's go get lunch. I'm starving." She headed for the door, ignoring her friends' (and Gorou's) laughs at her expense.

That Hitsugaya guy made her feel weird. She didn't want to see him ever again.

The hallways were already crowded with students who wanted to watch the guy they had literally just spent hours watching, walk away. She shook her head. People were crazy.

She pushed through the crowd, determined to reach the cafeteria. Undoubtedly, it would be empty, which was just fine with Karin. It just meant no lines and maybe even second helpings before people started to crowd in.

Just before she reached the door, she heard her name.

"Karin! Wait up!" Masaru had been the one to call out, being the loudest. She turned and watched them catch up with her.

"Honestly," he panted. "I only ever see you move that fast when food is on the line."

"Instead of a Plus behind the Hollow, they should just dangle some food. I bet Karin would get rid of the Hollow in record time."

Karin grinned at Akemi's teasings. "I wouldn't be opposed to that."

"Instead of grades, they should just award her with food." Gorou added, a little more snark to his comment than Akemi had had. They laughed and walked into the cafeteria, completely oblivious to a certain white-haired captain who was watching them.

* * *

BWAHAHAHA! She finally saw him! Review and maybe he will have seen her too. ;)

I was originally going to have this right after **Answers** but I realized belatedly that I needed to explain how Karin got there. Which is why there was so many chapters in between.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Sunrise

This is a short chapter. But it made me happy. So do reviews. I wonder if there is a correlation?

 **Disclaimer** : I'm re-reading the manga since it's been so long (like, years) and I realize that a lot of the explanations that he gave at the beginning, he just sort of threw away later. Whether he forgot or just didn't like it, I don't know. But things were definitely different in the beginning.

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen: Sunrise**

Do you ever have moments when your brain simultaneously explodes and shuts down? When something happens that it just can't compute so it just breaks? When you don't know if your heart is still going, or if you're still breathing or if you're even still alive?

Hitsugaya Toushirou was having one of those moments.

See, a few years ago, he met this girl. She was just a brat to him, a little elementary student. Even though he physically looked her age, he was actually a lot older. Old enough to see her as a small child in comparison to him. He hadn't planned on really talking or conversing or even seeing her ever again. But she was as persistent as she was fiery. She had eventually talked him into playing a game of soccer with her and her friends. He still wasn't sure how exactly.

Then one thing led to another and he was hopelessly in love with her.

That might seem like lazy writing but honestly, he had no idea exactly how it happened. Or even _when_ it happened. He had been walking home with her after spending the day at the park, carefully ignoring the mountain of paperwork sitting in his office, or his duties as a taicho, or even the laws that he had sworn to uphold no matter what. She was animatedly retelling something one of her friends had done, waving her arms wildly, almost smacking him in the face.

And that's when he realized.

It wasn't like a firework exploded in his brain or anything. He had known that he at least _liked_ her before. Hanging out with her, being with her, felt so right to him, so natural. It was like he had done it a million times before. So when he realized that he loved her more than anything, that he would kill, die, and everything in between for her, it was just a simple thought. Just an _Of course_.

And then the unthinkable happened.

He hadn't been there and that was the worst part about all of it. He couldn't say whether he would have been able to save her. He hoped he would have. But if he had been there, he would have at least said good-bye. Or something. Anything. Anything was better than arriving and not only not avenging her against her murderer, but then having to see her broken empty body, devoid of the person he loved, no matter how much it looked like her.

He had died that day.

For the five years after both their deaths, he had simply existed. No desires. No sorrow. No grief. Nothing. As empty a shell as the one she had left behind. He hadn't even cried. There was just no heart beating in order to break. There was nothing. Until that day.

When he felt his heart beat again for the first time in over five years.

It had been just a few seconds, over a crowd and on the other side of a building almost. She was laughing at something the person next to had said. He didn't know if it was a girl or boy. He hadn't even seen them. All he saw was the face that he had left behind in that forest so long ago. Smiling. Happy. Healthy. Same rosy cheeks. Same dark hair, much longer now. Same glittering eyes that held an intense inner fire that burned with life. Same half-smile that was both amused and mocking. Same everything.

Her.

And then she was gone, through the doors that led to the cafeteria. She always did have a big appetite. Her slim build was due to constant activity, doing one sport or another. Although now it was probably because all the food was used up by her reiatsu. He could feel it. That special warm glow that emanated from deep within. The one that he had almost forgotten in the years without it. The warmth that was hers, that spoke of comfort and spark, a gentle hand or a firm fist.

He blinked. He was back in his office, standing behind his desk, staring out the window. The sun had set some time ago, the stars bright, fighting for their share of the night sky. When had he gotten here? How long had he been standing here? He had no memory of leaving the Academy. He had no memory or concept of time. His desk was still covered in untouched paperwork. A plate of long cold and hardened food had been set over it. It was also untouched. There was a blanket over his shoulders. The one that usually sat in the closet, to be used during impromptu naps on the couch. He didn't feel it. He wasn't hungry. He was frozen.

That moment we talked about earlier, when your brain experiences something and can no longer function? Yeah. This was definitely that moment.

As he stood, staring out the window towards the slowly brightening sky, he realized, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he had been standing there, not only all day, but all night as well.

As the gentle pink and orange rays peeked over the edge of the horizon, visible over the roofs of the buildings in Seireitei, Hitsugaya Toushirou felt something.

He _felt_ something.

The sunrays, which had seemed to be nonexistent for over five years, somehow, miraculously, reached passed the shell of ice and touched the long forgotten and unused organ called a heart. The warmth of the rays breathed life into the neglected pump, stirring it. A twitch. A flicker. A flutter.

 _Ba-bump._

His eyes widened.

 _Ba-bump._

He could feel the rough and worn material against his neck, the weight of the blanket pressing on his shoulders.

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

His hand twitched as a breeze passed by, raising goosebumps on his exposed skin. Crisp, cold air filled his lungs, inflating the equally neglected bags. It burned as they filled, creaking like an old machine turning on again, rust coating its parts.

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

The rays of the sun danced on his face, warming his cheeks, a faint blush as blood finally pumped through his veins. He could still smell the lingering odor of the cold dinner on his desk, chicken, rice, and natto. He heard the faint sounds of morning in Seireitei, shops opening up, Shinigami walking wearily back from night duty, replaced by their well-rested counterparts. An unseated Shinigami was moving about in the offices of his division, cleaning up before the rest of the squad reported for duty. He recognized one of the members from his temporary Team Dragon, Kotobuki Masayoshi.

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

 _ **Ba-bump.**_

The sun had completely risen, close to 8 o'clock. This was the time he would usually get to his offices. The Shinigami had filled the 10th division headquarters. There were shouts of morning greetings, yawns, grumblings for having to do paperwork so early. Shouts from the training field as a team did morning work-outs, taking advantage of their time slot.

The door slid open.

"Taicho?" Matsumoto's voice was subdued and a little hesitant. She saw his form, silhouetted by the sun spilling in through the window. He heard a sigh. "Taicho, did you not go home at all?" Her footsteps got closer. "And you didn't touch your food. I take it you didn't have breakfast either?" The last question was rhetorical, a hint of bitterness to it. Another sigh, one of frustration.

"Why won't you speak to me, taicho? It's like you don't even hear me. I'm getting worried. What happened at the Academy?" When he didn't respond, didn't move at all, she picked up the plate and started to walk away. He blinked.

"Matsumoto."

The yelp and following crash informed him that in her surprise at him talking, she had dropped the plate. "T-taicho?" She stuttered. He slowly turned around. She gasped loudly, her jaw dropping wide, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

He was smiling.

It was faint, nothing more than a general softening of his features and a slight upturn of the corners of his lips, but it was definitely there, all the more obvious for the fact that he hadn't had an expression of any kind grace his features in years.

"I'm a little tired, what with standing in one spot for several hours. And hungry. Apparently I missed a few meals. I'm going to take a personal day today. The division is in your care. Try to get some work done today." He pulled the blanket off his shoulders and rested it over the back of his chair. "Thank you for the blanket." He nodded to her. She still hadn't moved. It looked like she had stopped breathing in surprise.

He strode past her. Just before he closed the door, he turned back to the still frozen fukutaicho.

"And clean up that mess at your feet. That's a waste of food, you know." He gave his long forgotten trademark smirk, making her eyes widen even more, her jaw now dangling near her feet, before promptly closing the door behind him.

As he strode through his division, he caused every squad member who saw him to freeze, just like his fukutaicho. His smile had not gone from his lips.

She was alive. She was _alive_. And finally, after 5 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days, so was he.

* * *

Way shorter than all my previous chapters. But WEEEEEE! He saw her! Now they actually have to meet! (You know, for being a HitsuKarin story, we've gone through 18 chapters already and they've been in each other's presence for a grand total of like, 10 minutes. Hmmm.) Maybe more reviews means more time together!

Actually, regardless, I'm totally having them meet next chapter. _I'm_ getting impatient. And I'm the one writing it! But reviews make me happy.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Red

XD I cannot explain my excitement at this chapter. It's kind of what I've been waiting for for 16 chapters. Seriously. Enough angst. Now with drama and fluff and declarations of war! (or love. Same thing.) Review!

Sorry, I didn't realize that I had forgotten to put this chapter in. I'll re-release the next chapter next week. Sorry again.

 **Disclaimer** : I'm pretty sure that if I did end up writing my own stuff, I would totally fangirl over it. I'm just saying.

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen: Red**

When Karin woke up the next morning, it was barely morning. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon. Akemi was already awake, doing her usual morning routine. At first she thought that Akemi had woken her up. Then she felt her heart beating loudly in her chest.

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

 _Ba-bump._

She felt tingly all over. It was weird. She felt her own forehead. She didn't feel warm but maybe she had some kind of illness.

"You're up, Karin-chan?" Akemi paused in brushing her hair to look at her roommate in surprise. "You never get up this early. Are you alright?"

"I- I don't know. I feel weird." Akemi frowned.

"Are you sick?" She came over and placed the back of her hand to Karin's forehead. "You're a little warm. Maybe you should go to the medical station and get yourself checked out."

Karin shook her head. "I have classes today. And with that super long discussion yesterday, we're probably going to be really far behind." She decided to get up. Akemi frowned in worry.

"I still think you should get checked out."

"I'm fine." Karin waved her concern away, heading for the bathroom. "Don't worry about. Also, don't tell Hana. She'd freak out and worry herself to death over nothing."

Since Karin was up so early, by the time they got to the cafeteria, it was still mostly empty, just a few early-risers eating in relative quiet.

"I won't tell Hana-chan, but I really think you should go. What if it gets worse?" Akemi continued to pester Karin as they filled their trays with food, Akemi a simple and neat classic breakfast, Karin with everything she could fit on her tray and then some.

"Fine. If it starts to get worse, then I'll go. But honestly, I'm fine. I feel more normal already. It was probably just a dream or something."

"Oh?" Akemi's dark eyes sparkled mischeviously. "A dream about a certain tall, brooding, and handsome visiting taicho perhaps?" She laughed at the glare Karin leveled at her.

"He wasn't _that_ good-looking." She muttered, digging into her mound of food. Akemi just stared at her.

"Are you blind? You know what, even a blind person good tell, he was _hot_. And he had this whole 'mysterious and tragic past' thing going on. And then that confession about his girlfriend dying."

"Not his girlfriend." Karin said before she realized she was speaking. It was like a knee-jerk reaction. They both looked surprised at her words.

"What do you mean? He said…"

"He said that a girl he thought was worth it died, not that he actually was dating her."

"Oh? For someone who didn't think he was ' _that_ good-looking', you sure paid real close attention to what he was saying." Akemi grinned at Karin's scowl.

"Who was saying?" Masaru slid into a spot next to Akemi, Hisoka sitting down next to him. Both of their trays held more food than Akemi's but neither came close to Karin's.

"We were just talking about Hitsugaya's lecture yesterday." Akemi smirked as Karin glared down at her food. "He said a lot of really interesting things, don't you think, Aoki-kun?"

"Definitely! I was thinking about all those tips he gave for Zanjutsu training. I really wish I had brought something to write down everything he said." He had stabbed a sausage with his fork and was waving it around in his excitement.

"I'm sure someone wrote it down. The whole school was there." Hisoka dodged being poked in the eye with Masaru's sausage, a look of amusement on his face.

"Are we talking about what Hitsugaya said yesterday?" Hana and her shy roommate Shizuko arrived, sitting down next to Karin, across from the other three. Both of their trays matched Akemi's more than Karin's.

"He was really good." Shizuko muttered quietly.

"He must have been absolutely fantastic to get even you to say something, Hasegawa-chan!" Masaru and Akemi both laughed at his words. Shizuko blushed deeply, quickly turning to her food.

"He _was_ really good." Hana emphasized. "He was like a knight, all mysterious and noble." Her eyes glazed over as she entered a daydream.

"He was alright." Hisoka frowned, suddenly moody. Karin frowned at the look he gave Hana, not noticing Akemi and Masaru both sharing a knowing look.

"Thinking about joining the Hitsugaya-taicho fanclub, She-beast? I hear that it was just formed last night and already has half the Academy's population attending." Gorou and his roommate Isao sat down, Gorou next to Karin, Isao across from him, next to Akemi.

"There's a fanclub?" She asked, more disgusted at his announcement than surprised.

Isao nodded. "I hear that the president is that student that asked him about his girlfriend."

"It's not his girlfriend." Akemi smirked at Karin. "According to Karin, she was 'someone he thought was worth it but died.'"

Gorou snorted. "Same thing isn't it? If a guy is willing to confess something like that to the entire Academy, then they were probably intimate."

Hana gasped suddenly. "Watch out for that booby-trap!"

Everyone turned to look at her. She blinked, realizing what she said out loud and blushed.

"…'Booby-trap'?" Karin asked, a brow raised.

"Sorry. I was kind of lost in my daydream." Everyone looked at each other before laughing loudly.

* * *

Karin was right. Because of the lost day, all her morning classes were behind and were working extra hard to make up for it. She did notice that even the teachers were trying to use some of the tips that Hitsugaya had given during his lecture.

By the time lunch rolled around, Karin was tired, hot, sweaty, sporting several more bruises due to her distracted state allowing Gorou to land some blows during their zanjutsu training, and the strange tingly feeling that she had woken up with had just increased throughout the day.

"You don't look good, Karin-chan." Was how Akemi greeted her as they met for lunch. "Are you still not feeling well?"

"What? Are you sick, Karin?" Hana looked worriedly at her. "You should go lie down. Or go to the medical station. How long have you been sick? Do you have a fever?" She put the back of her hand up to Karin's forehead, almost immediately drawing it back with a soft gasp. "You're burning up! You need medical assistance!"

Karin was about to protest but Gorou cut her off. "If you're sick, go get some medicine or something. It's no fun to beat you when you're not at your best." He glared at her. She tried to glare back but was too tired. Instead she allowed Hana to lead her towards the medical station, located in a central location on the Academy grounds.

When the two girls disappeared from sight, Akemi turned to her cousin. "You know, if you were worried about her, you could have just said." He choked on the rice he had just taken a bite of.

"I'm not- who would- did you- she's just-" His beet-red face was obviously more from embarrassment than from a lack of air. Everyone at the table just laughed.

"Face it, Kobayashi-kun." His usually quiet roommate patted him on the back with a laugh. "The only people who don't know about the crush you've got just left." He pointed to where Karin and Hana had gone.

"I do not." He mumbled, ignoring all of them and his own blush along with all of its implications.

* * *

"Looks like you've got a pretty nasty fever." The nurse pulled out the thermometer. "I'm surprised that you lasted this long with a temperature like that."

"She's going to be okay though, right?" Hana asked from her position standing at Karin's side.

"Oh she'll be fine." The nurse assured the worried girl. "She just needs some rest. Probably because of all the different and new germs that she's come into contact with this semester. I take it you're from a rural district?" Karin nodded tiredly. "Well, you just stay here and sleep. I'd send you back to your dorm but I want you here to monitor you. She'll be fine. You can go back to your classes." She addressed this last part to Hana.

"I want to stay here with her." Hana stepped closer, gripping one of Karin's shoulders.

The nurse shook her head. "There's nothing for you to do. She'll just be sleeping and I'll be right over there." She pointed at her desk a few meters away. "I'll send word when she wakes up."

Hana frowned and turned to Karin. "I'll be back right after classes, okay? Sleep well, Nee-san." She kissed Karin's burning forehead and left, giving a last backwards look before she exited.

"Now you lie right down and go to sleep. If you need anything, I'll just be right over there." Karin laid down, allowing the nurse to tuck her in, before closing her eyes and passing out almost instantly.

* * *

She had a weird dream. There were a lot of colors, reds, oranges, blues, whites. She saw fruit and black and white balls. She felt hot and cold as the colors shifted. Once, she could have sworn she saw what she now recognized as her Zanpakutou, the shadowy figure on the dark throne. Except the figure was standing. She was shouting something. Something about… him?

Then she saw a tree. Or she was in one. And a boy was below her, wearing a tattered yukata and scowling up at her. He looked so familiar, his eyes a piercing blue-green. She was laughing. At him. At his anger. He didn't like being called short. Then the branch was cracking. She clung on tight in fear. His expression went from angry to scared as he watched the branch break. He ran towards her, his arms outstretched, shouting her name.

"Karin."

She opened her eyes. For a moment she thought that she was still dreaming, the same blue-green eyes standing over her. Then she blinked and the rest of him came into focus. His spiky white hair, his firm yet slender chin, his brows furrowed as he examined her. The hilt of his famous Zanpakutou peeking over his shoulder. His white haori…

Her eyes widened as she realized just what, or more specifically _who_ , she was staring at, her mouth slightly open. Hitsugaya-taicho, Taicho of the 10th division of the Gotei 13, was standing over her while she was lying in the medical station of the Academy.

She sat up quickly, suddenly very self-conscious of how she must have looked, her brow covered in sweat, her red and white uniform wrinkled and disheveled. His frown deepened.

"Don't get up. Your fever isn't gone yet." His voice was the same deep, calm, and slightly husky voice that she had listened to for 5 hours yesterday. She didn't understand why the tingly feeling she had felt all day suddenly intensified when he spoke.

She finally found her own voice. "What are you doing here?" She realized belatedly that she should have probably should have given him a more formal greeting, at the very least acknowledging his position as a taicho. But there was no such thing as taicho's in the 80th district and even the weeks that she had spent in Seireitei couldn't get her used to respecting someone just for a name.

He didn't seem to care about her lack of respect. If anything, he looked amused at her blunt question. "I came to find you. Then I heard that you were sick so I came here. I only just arrived when you woke up." She blinked at his words.

…There was so much there to address and question that her mind went blank. After just staring stupidly up at the white-haired taicho who just stared calmly down at her, his ice-blue eyes glittering with …something, she managed to ask, "…Why?"

He tilted his head, as though seriously weighing her both simple and complicated question.

"Do you remember me?" He asked in response. She furrowed her brows. What on earth did he mean by that?

"Of course I remember you." She replied. His eyes widened in surprise and …excitement? "You're Hitsugaya-taicho. You spoke to the whole Academy just yesterday." Was it her imagination or did he look disappointed at her answer?

"I see." Was all he said. They stayed there in silence for a few extremely awkward moments. Well, awkward for Karin. She felt like fidgeting as he just stared down at her but she forced herself to stay still. Finally, annoyed at his silent stare she glared up at him, completely ignoring the fact that he was a taicho and not only had the authority to kick her out of Seireitei but had the power to obliterate her without so much as lifting a finger, she spat out angrily, "What do you want? Are you just here to stare at me?"

He raised a brow at her angry tone but she refused to by timid. She folded her arms, lifting her chin in defiance at his surprised expression.

Then he chuckled lightly. She was floored. That was …not what she had been expecting. She tried to ignore the heart flutters she got as she saw his relaxed and smiling face. She did _not_ feel giddy inside at being the one to make him laugh. Nope. Her frown deepened in confusion.

"What's with you? Are _you_ sick or something?" He smirked at her, folding his arms and leaning against the nearby pole that held up the rod for the curtain partitioning.

"No. Just enjoying the fact that you are still you." She looked confused.

"How the heck would you know? Have we met before?" He just grinned at her glare.

"Yes." She jerked her head back in shock. Then she looked suspicious.

"Where exactly?" He silently laughed at her expression.

"You know, I suppose that I probably should have said no. Shinigami who know humans while they're alive aren't supposed to let them know that once the humans die. But I don't give a crap about that rule. I gave up caring about rules and laws like that a good five years ago." He shook his head ruefully, talking more to himself than to her. He appraised her very confused and angry expression, amusement apparent in his face. "I should probably just let you live your life now, not bring up the past. Nobly sacrifice everything for the sake of laws and order and some crap like that. I don't even know if you'll ever remember. It's never happened before, you know?"

She wanted to say 'No, I don't know. What are you talking about?' but for some reason, some deep suppressed and forgotten part of her stopped her from speaking. She just sat there, listening to his monologue with mixed feelings of confusion, anger, curiosity, and …anticipation. Her stomach was squeezing, hanging on to every word he said.

"But I won't." He continued, still just staring into her own dark eyes. "I died over five years ago and then yesterday, for the first time, I felt alive again. And I'm not going to forget that. I'm not going to just go on my way, continuing in my duties as if I didn't know, as if you weren't here. I'm not that saintly. I'm actually pretty selfish." He pushed himself off the pole and walked closer to her.

She tried not to react but couldn't help the stiffening of her body, as if expecting something. She wasn't sure what exactly so she masked the feeling with a glare. He just smirked wider.

"I know you Karin. And you know me. You just forgot when you died and came her to Soul Society." Her eyes widened and she gave an almost silent gasp.

"You… you knew me when I was alive?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper for reasons she couldn't fathom. Like they were talking about something forbidden and didn't want anyone to overhear.

He grinned. "Yeah. I knew you for years. Since you were 11. We were just friends at first."

Should have had to deaf to not have caught the meaning of his words. "At first?" His grin widened as he leaned closer to her, his voice low, practically a growl. He had to hold his body up by propping himself on her bed. She felt his surprisingly cool breath on the side of her face as he answered.

"Just before you died, over 5 years ago, we finally moved to something… _more_." She unconsciously shivered at all the insinuations that word 'more' held. And she knew. She knew on some primal, instinctive level, that everything he was saying was true.

He suddenly straightened and took a step back. She felt cold and alone without his close presence.

"You don't remember. And you might never remember. But that's okay. Because I do." He smirked at her frozen expression and body. "And if I can't make you remember, then I'll just have to make you fall in love with me all over again." And with a swish of his flowing haori, he was gone.

* * *

When the nurse came back in, not a minute later, she was surprised to see Karin sitting up, still with that same shocked expression on her face, one hand propping her up, the other clutching tightly to her sheets. Karin didn't even register her fussing, checking her temperature again, or her words. She was too… angry.

That's right, she was angry. She gritted her teeth. So some hotshot taicho comes in and reveals that they used to be an item in some past life? And she's just supposed to take that lying down? Just let him mess around with her, claiming to make her fall in love with him? Yeah right!

She didn't know what she was like while she was alive and frankly she didn't care. She laid back down grumpily, roughly pulling the sheets up to her chin as she glared daggers into the ceiling. That no-good, cocky, runt of a taicho was going to get a big surprise the next time he came knocking. She smiled evilly as she closed her eyes, dreaming of all the wonderful, horrible things she would do to a certain, white-haired taicho.

* * *

Hee. So they finally meet. I honestly had no idea how this was going to go. I just kept writing and this is what came out. But I'm happy. Now we'll have more HitsuKarin moments. And the real plot line. Hope y'all didn't forget about how she died. That might come up in the next chapter. Reviews mean more fluff!


	21. Chapter Twenty: The Chase is On

This was a struggle. I need to take a small break to write an outline. I'm stuck plot wise. Reviews will inspire me though!

So, I know I technically already released this on accident but here you go again. To make up for the fact that you will have to wait even longer because this is the last chapter I've written so far. But the semester is almost over so in a few weeks I'll be able to really pick it up again!

 **Disclaimer** : If you haven't figured it out by now, there is no hope for you.

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty: The Chase is On**

Dark. Cold. A steady drip somewhere echoing through the cavern. A figure in a dark robe, a hood pulled over its head.

Underneath the shadows cast by the hood, a twitch of the thin lips marked a potential smile.

"They're waking up."

* * *

Toushirou was at his desk, robotically going through paperwork like normal at a slightly faster pace than normal. He was alone, like normal. His flighty fukutaicho was missing, like normal.

Everything was normal.

Except that the Ice Captain, known throughout Seireitei as emotionless and colder than the ice he uses, was humming.

It was a nonsensical tune, more of a randomly staccato-ed buzz than an actually tune. Not that he realized what he was doing. He was just in a good mood.

It was the day after he had visited Karin at the academy and blatantly tossed aside every single law or rule concerning that particular situation. And he couldn't have cared less.

He was done with being the stoic, robotic, rule-follower. It had given him nothing but heartache and sorrow. Just because he didn't like emoting doesn't mean he doesn't feel.

Matsumoto walked in his office, slightly hesitant. He didn't really blame her. His actions lately were …unprecedented, to say the least.

"Taicho?" He looked up, a brow raised slightly. This action seemed to startle her. "Um, taicho, I just wanted to see how you were…" She petered off, looking at him nervously. He raised his brow higher.

"I'm fine." He said slowly. "What do you want?" He deadpanned.

"Aww, taicho." She reflexively pouted. "Can't I just check up on my taicho?"

"You only do when you want something that I'm most likely going to say 'no' to. What do you want?"

She blinked, slightly taken aback by the normalcy of this conversation. At least, it was normal five years ago. "I was just going to let you know that the soutaicho agreed to allow the Invader Training to go into the Rukongai. Ise-fukutaicho gave us the list of conditions that must be kept. She gave the same list to every participating squad."

Toushirou nodded. "Good. When's the next one scheduled?"

"Three days from now."

He nodded absentmindedly. "I think I'll try to change it up this time."

"Eh?"

"I think I'll get someone else to be the Invader. Change up the target to keep them on their toes. Different attacks and what not."

"Who will you assign as the Invader?"

Toushirou shrugged. "How about you?"

"Eh?! Me? But, taicho, I couldn't possibly-"

"You don't have any other duties at that time. And the way that you fight is completely different than me. So it's final." He ignored her protestations. "You'll be the target for the training. I'll send a memo to all the squads." He abruptly turned back to his paperwork, leaving a flabbergasted Matsumoto gaping at him.

She wasn't gaping at him because of the sudden change in schedule. She was gaping at him because when he turned back to his paperwork, he started making an odd noise. A noise that his fukutaicho (who had been with him from the moment he graduated from the Academy in record time to now) had never heard him make before. Ever.

He was humming.

"T-taicho?"

"What?" He didn't bother to look up this time.

"Are you …humming?"

The taicho paused mid-document. "Am I?" He asked quietly, more to himself. There was a moment of silence before he shrugged and continued to read. "I guess I am. I had a good dream last night?" His explanation sounded more like a question than an answer.

"What was it about?" His fukutaicho instantly brightened and leaned over his desk, oblivious to her well-endowed chest dangling in front of her taicho. He leaned back and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling, trying to recall all the details. This surprised her greatly. She had assumed he would just brush her off, telling her to get back to work.

"It was about Karin."

This statement caused Rangiku's whole countenance to drop in sorrow. She stood up, a sad frown on her face. "Oh taicho." She said sadly. He ignored her.

"It was here in Soul Society. We were both really young, younger than when we first met. She was in a tree. In a fancy kimono. She was laughing at me for… something. I'm not sure. Then the branch she was on broke." His tone was calm and level, not giving away any emotion. He continued to stare up at the ceiling, his hands clasped and resting on his stomach.

"I tried to catch her. Except it ended up where she just fell on me and the branch hit my head. She laughed at me." A nostalgic look softened his face as Rangiku watched carefully. "She snuck back into her house, which was a huge mansion, and got a first-aid kit. She wrapped my head and bribed me with a watermelon."

There was silence for several minutes, Hitsugaya staring at the ceiling, lost in thought, Rangiku staring at his face, her brows furrowed. Finally, she asked quietly, "Then what happened?"

Toushirou sat up with another shrug, carefully avoiding looking Matsumoto in the eye, his face an expressionless mask. "I woke up."

She smiled. His embarrassment was only obvious to those who really knew him, like her. He picked up the abandoned form and pretended to read it.

"I'll let our squad know that I'm going to be the target for the next training." She gave a polite bow and headed out. When she closed the door behind her, she paused for a few moments. She had absolutely no idea what was going on with her small taicho. Technically, he wasn't small anymore, but in her mind he would always be the short boy with a bad temper in a specially tailored uniform because they didn't come in his size.

His transformation was quick. It was like he suddenly woke up from a long sleep. She didn't know what happened but she was grateful.

She smiled and bounced down the hall. Better let the troops know about the next Invader Training.

* * *

Three days later, Matsumoto was running swiftly through the First Rukongai district in the north, mentally and verbally cursing her taicho. Why on earth had she agreed to take his place? She had to quickly dart into a side alley to avoid a group of 6th squad members. She was obviously lacking his speed. Stupid taicho. She cursed as she shunpoed to the roof of the building, the alleyway blocked by a team from her own division. Stupid training. Where are you, you stupid taicho?

* * *

Toushirou sneezed. He was leaning against a tree in the academy grounds. It had been embarrassingly easy to sneak into the grounds without anyone noticing. He'd have to talk to the president about that. When he wasn't abusing the faulty security for his own selfish purposes.

He had abused his authority as a taicho and had gotten a hold of Karin's schedule a few days ago. He had left the Invader Training to Matsumoto in order to slip away. It helped that just about everyone was participating in the Training. It had become more of an intense game of tag than anything. More like a holiday than a training exercise.

He looked up when he heard the faint sounds of the bell, telling students that it was time for their next class or, in Karin's case, time for her break. He wasn't 100% sure that she would come into the training yard but if she was still the Karin he knew than she would.

And sure enough, he spotted her dark hair making its way into the yard, completely alone. He smirked as he watched her take position in a slightly secluded section, blocked from the majority of the yard by trees. She wasn't aware that he was only a few meters away. He examined her profile while she lifted her bokken and started going through the basic zanjutsu positions.

She had a wirey build, almost unhealthy in its thinness but he could tell that she had been eating well lately, evident by the healthy flush in her cheeks and her steady and confident stance. She hadn't aged a day since he had last seen her in the living world.

Spirits didn't age like humans. The more spirit particles a spirit was able to draw in, the longer they lived and slower they aged. Those with little reiatsu didn't live nearly as long as those with high reiatsu's and aged much faster. It was the main reason Hitsugaya had taken so long to get to the physical age he was now.

He watched her for a few minutes in silence, simply enjoying her presence. When she made a sloppy move and cursed herself before trying to correct it, he decided to step in.

"You're not being flexible enough." She jumped and whirled around, almost falling in her surprise. "Your lower body is too tense. You don't allow for any hip movement and it's throwing everything off." He walked calmly towards her. She was glaring at him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She ignored his previous advice. "It's not good to stalk people, you know. Even a taicho."

He refused to take the bait. "Bend your knees more and move your hips. Your sword is an extension of your body not just your arm."

She scoffed but did as he said. Her eyes widened when she realized how much easier and more graceful she was able to do the move. Her look of delight quickly faded into a scowl when she caught sight of his soft smirk.

"Thank you, oh great taicho." She swept a mocking bow to match her tone. "For coming all this way just to help a single student with her practice. They must not be giving you guys enough work if a taicho can just hang around the Academy for one person."

His lips twitch slightly. Just like Karin. "We only do it for special people."

He supposed that before he might have pretended not to see the faint blush that was not hidden by the angry scowl. But where's the fun in that?

"Shut up." Was the only retort. He grinned. "Now go away before I call an instructor over."

He just shrugged. "What are they going to do? I outrank all of them by a mile."

"Maybe but what will you do when word gets around that you played hooky so you can bother academy students? What about your precious reputation?"

He raised a brow. She seemed to think that she had him if the adorable smirk was anything to go by. Slowly he sauntered closer. Her smirk dropped as he neared and he could tell she wanted to back away, but her pride wouldn't let her. She stood up straighter and glared as he stopped uncomfortably close, only a few centimeters away. Her light blush intensified and became a deep red that covered her ears and neck as well. He could feel her slightly quickened breath on his face.

"'Students'?" He whispered and he was sure he saw a small shiver from her. "Oh no Karin. Not 'students'. Just the one." He leaned in slowly, closing the already small gap between them. Her eyes widened but she seemed frozen with shock.

Just before their lips met he stopped. She was completely tense. He couldn't even hear her breath anymore. He smiled again, and suddenly backed away.

"Although, you are right Karin." He said in a casual tone as if what just happened didn't just happen. "I do have quite a bit of work to do." He sighed dramatically. "You're a handful by anyone's standards." And while Karin was struggling to remember to breath he turned around and promptly walked away, not looking back to see the myriad of expressions flashing on her face.

* * *

This is short because it's taken me forever to write and I wanted to get it finished. I think I'll have to work some more on my outline before I write the next chapter. I'm a little lost as to where to go right now. In case you can't tell by my lack of a serious plotline. Reviews!


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